A Valuable Treasure Within

You have a valuable treasure within you—the treasure of being a human being.

So you have to look after this treasure until it grows more complete, until it becomes the treasure of the heavenly realms, the treasure of nibbāna. Look after this treasure. It’s hard to look after if you don’t know how to use it, if you don’t know how to take care of it. If you’re not discerning, this treasure can turn into a liability—there’s no need to doubt it.

So what can we do when we’re not yet discerning? There are all kinds of dangers that can make us fall away from this treasure. This is why we have to develop the skills needed to take care of it—in other words, observing the five precepts and keeping the mind firmly centered on the in-and-out breath.

Keep the mind firmly centered. Keep watch over the breath continually. Keep after it continually, making sure that the in-breath is comfortable, the out-breath is comfortable.

When we do this, we’re looking after our treasure. When we look after it mindfully, nothing will threaten it. If anything comes our way, we’ll know in advance. We’ll be able to look after our treasure for the rest of our lives. Or we’ll be able to increase it, add to it, so that it becomes the treasure of the heavenly realms, the treasure of nibbāna.

It all comes from this one spot right here. It comes from the breath. If we can take care of it and keep it firm, it’ll take us to the treasure of the human state, the treasure of the heavenly realms, all the way to the treasure of nibbāna.

This reflection by Ajaan Fuang Jotiko is from the talk, Listen Well, (pdf) p. 2.