Happiness and suffering depends on how you view something, it does not depend on external factors. Feel your heartbeat throughout your body. Honour your body, you can do so many good things with it. Why wait for another life?

The truth of suffering: there are waves of suffering. The essence of suffering is always the same. You can't stop the waves, but if you are suffering, you can try to come to acceptance and use the waves to get out of it by going right along with it. You can't fight it. When you come to acceptance, you are offered other perspectives. If you don't accept or accept it, you block. Remember: the law of change also applies to suffering. Life consists of one change after another, because even the positive turns into suffering over time. That doesn't mean you shouldn't marry or snack or enjoy yourself. You just have to change your perspective and not get attached to what you hope will make you happy, because you will find out that it does not bring the desired result. Don't cling to something, making you forget about everything else. Just by being born, you get the experience of all-pervading suffering.

You can be born in different ways. You can be born in an independent way, where you can choose everything for yourself, but you can also be born due to karma, so tackle spirit! Acquire mastery of mind to arrive at that independence. Thinking and talking about suffering is a very good habit, because it will liberate you. Pay attention to your suffering because it is beneficial. It brings you into your strength and therefore you can help others too. How do you get a strong mind? Stay still like a tree. That is enough to bring about the change. Follow your breathing, do so repeatedly and keep practising to become still, persevere, very consciously! Then change will come in motion. Make sure you become open, friendly and enthusiastic. Forgive yourself when you make mistakes. Try to stay positive and then make it a habit.

Origin of suffering: Karma, wrong thinking and wrong doing. Doubt is a negative emotion; it acts like poison. It only takes a little poison to cause a big effect. Work on your attachment, because it limits you. It holds you captive and that, in turn, is because you doubt. Anything too much is deadly! Butterflies love warmth and light, but because of their attachment to it, they flutter too straight into burning candles and then they burn. Elephants love mud, but because of their attachment to it, they get suffocated by its sucking power and die.

The end of suffering: Yes, it is possible. Emotions are connected to the self. When you understand that, it stops. Address your emotions through loving care, attention,understanding and insight. Then change is possible. Listen to your emotions, acknowledge them and embrace everything in love. Emotions are like dust on a mirror and the mirror is your mind.

The path to remove the dust: This requires discipline, mental development and wisdom. Everything you do must be done with attention to your insides. What we see and the nature of what we see are very different. Don't stop at what you see, because you will get lost! Instead, ask yourself what the essence is and look at the nature of things! Find the middle ground in everything: don't eat too much, but don't eat too little either, do the same with your work and with your clothes. Engage with enthusiasm and with interest and teach yourself to focus. Guide your mind to one point, and it will become a powerful stream. Learn to understand things as they are, because a perception can be very different from reality. Everything is changeable, but we look too much at the outside. Having an eye for relative reality is what you do with your senses. The absolute truth is exclusively that everything is changeable.

You avoid problems like emptiness, interdependence and the laws of cause & effect when you become sharp of mind. The sharper your mind, the fewer mistakes you make. Act from the right motivation, from the right motives and then stick to your motivation. Don't let yourself get disillusioned. However, this takes time, courage and patience. By persevering, it can follow through. If you have problems, trust and work on your self-confidence. You can do that through the method of openness. Make sure you stay open to others, because that will develop your wisdom.

In everything, ask yourself if what you are doing is actually what you want to do. Think about it with wisdom. Be generous by sharing your knowledge and skills without expectation or regret. Also behave ethically, do not harm others and take good care of your relationships with others. Then two people can truly unite in love.

Be patient and don't overweight that which causes you pain or trouble. Examine the person acting this way. Is he himself victimised by emotions? Human beings divide everything into three groups: those we see sitting, those we see half sitting and those we are indifferent to. You can dissolve this division through love and compassion. Then there is room for more. Don't pin another person into a certain role pattern. Don't consider the one who cheats as one who will always do so, and don't consider your enemy as one who always wants to harm you.

The game of attraction and repulsion helps you have the right attitude. What exactly happens in these phases? Those involved are victims of disturbing emotions due to ego-focused behaviour. They are acting contrary to their true nature. Have compassion when you see this happening and then think: He is different from what he is showing now! Don't chase the emotions, but examine them. Take a step back to see things in the right proportions. Patience is the quality to get rid of the restlessness in ourselves. By doing so, you end the unpleasant situations.

Coping with suffering: Your first reaction should be: I can handle this! Don't lose heart, know that you can handle it. As a result, you will appeal to a greater strength of mind. In difficult situations, you will have to step on the pedals a bit harder. And remember: nothing is fixed, everything is impermanent. Reflect on the fluctuating nature of everything. By trying to bend the future to your will, you are only programming your own frustration. Use your perseverance. Tackle things and know that you will bring them to fruition. Effortlessly! Try to get out through mental stability and wisdom. Wisdom means that you dose your energy correctly and not by biting your teeth on it. Use care and enthusiasm to finish well. Ensure mental stability through concentration. Bring your mind to one-pointed concentration. The result will be well-being and developing your own abilities.

Ultimate reality is found in the unseen things. Through meditation, you come to insights that are reliable because the core of your mind is calm. Ask yourself: What am I dealing with here? What is the situation like? What elements are at play? Examine it critically in that stillness of your mind and then integrate everything.

Use your inner eye and the wisdom of your body to arrive at the perfect knowledge. Merge it.

Highlights from the conversation with Lama Karta during my retreat at the Tibetan temple in Huy.
Dance of reunion