In this day and age, how can we foster societies that are easy to live in, where everyone is kind to one another, and where the spirit of living together and the spirit of reciprocity—the great foundation of human life—develop effortlessly in every quarter? The Buddhist teaching of “the mutual inclusion of the ten realms” means that every mind mutually possesses every other mind in the ten realms of living beings, and therefore, we all inherently possess the mind of a buddha

“When a glass is half full of water, how do you view it? The author Seikan Kobayashi says there are three ways to view it. First, with displeasure and dissatisfaction that it is only half full. Second, with joy, feeling glad that it is half full. And third, with gratitude, being thankful for the kindness of whoever left half for you. However you view or interpret a situation like this, you are the one assigning it some sort of meaning.

In which case, perhaps what matters most is that we demonstrate—through the very way we live our lives—our ability to accept any kind of hardship and to go on living with an awareness of gratitude for the life we are receiving in the present moment. As a result, when we hear people who are suffering with troubles give voice to what is on their minds, we will be able to offer them words of strength and encouragement.