I'm Looking Over a 4-Leaf Clover

When i was a child, every Sunday afternoon, after Sunday dinner, my grandmother and i would walk around our house looking for 4-leaf clovers. I still have the knack of finding them. Today i put a flat down on the grass and voila! A 4-leaf clover was staring up at me.

Today is Wesak, the full moon that celebrates the Buddha's awakening. It's a good time to take refuge in the Buddha, take refuge in the Dharma, and take refuge in the Sangha.

According to the Dhammapada:
One who takes refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, sees the Four Noble Truths:

1. Suffering, 
2. the Cause of Suffering, 
3. the Cessation of Suffering,
4. and the 8-fold Noble Path which leads to the Cessation of Suffering.

These are the 4 Truths that will bring us more "luck" than any 4-leaf clover.

Cause and Effect

Yesterday i spent half the day outdoors--hauling bark mulch in a wheelbarrow, hauling brush to a brush pile, laying big roundish river rocks along the edges of a path.

Today my body aches, my lower back is tired, and i move stiffly.

Cause and effect. More exercise than i am used to leads to an aching body.

Cause and effect is also at work in our minds. Negative thoughts give rise to more negative thoughts. Kindness gives rise to kindness. Plant a radish, get a radish, not a Brussels sprout.

Karma is another word for this chain of cause-and-effect. Our actions--physical, mental, or verbal--lay down the patterns for our future. As the neuroscientists say, neurons that fire together, wire together.

What would you like to harvest? Craving, irritation, or kindness?