Adult Dhamma

The Buddha treats us like adults: people who realize that they have to be responsible for their actions and know they have to think about the long term. Children, teenagers, have a special problem with thinking about the long-term results of their actions, weighing what they want to do against what will give good results. But by the time you become an adult, you should have some practice with that.

That’s what the Buddha is expecting you to do. He simply says that you might not imagine how far your actions can take you. They can take you all the way to total freedom—if you’re really careful about what you choose to do and what you choose not to do.

Because he’s treating us like adults, we should respond like adults. The beginning of wisdom, as he says, or the measure of your wisdom, is when you know that something gives long-term harm, but you like to do it, you know how to say, “No, I’m not going to do that.” Or something that gives long-term benefits but you don’t like doing it, you’re able to talk yourself into wanting to do it.

Wisdom is pragmatic. All too often we hear wisdom as being presented as something very abstract, far away, paradoxical. But there’s nothing paradoxical about wanting to have true happiness. The paradox lies in the fact that ultimate happiness is something unfabricated, but there is a path of practice that leads there that you put together. So you take responsibility for that.

In doing so, you become a genuine adult. So many people go through life—their bodies are adult, but their minds are still children. You don’t want to be one of those.