A New Year and a Fresh Start with Robina Courtin (Online Only)

One tradition that many cultures, including Tibetans, share, is to do a huge clean-up in the days leading up to the new year, throwing out the old, airing the cupboards, making a fresh start.

Psychologically we all need this badly. We know how good it feels! The trouble is, we can’t help but get stuck in old ways, gathering rubbish around us, internal and external, and putting off dealing with it.

So, why do we fall into old habits? Why is it so hard to deal with our dramas as and when they arise? Why do we often wait until things become unbearable before we start to confront them, deal with them, to air out the cupboards?

One way of explaining it is in terms of the Buddhist understanding of attachment and aversion, these two seemingly simple but primordially deep states of mind. Essentially, this attachment runs the show, moment by moment. It’s a junkie that only wants the nice things, and the second it doesn’t get what it wants, that’s the arising of aversion: frustration, annoyance, irritation, upset – all these polite words for the stronger manifestation called anger or, when it turns inward, depression.

Another way of describing this tendency within us is “procrastination.” What is it that we put off doing? The thing that takes too much effort. And what takes too much effort? The thing that attachment doesn’t like. In other words, we love our comfort zone and we’ll do anything to stay in it.

But we mustn’t give up. Perseverance is an incredible quality. Without it, we can achieve nothing. This means whenever we fall down, we simply pick ourselves up again; renew our determination to not put things off. Again, we might fail; again, we pick ourselves up. We know practice makes perfect, but it’s not necessarily easy. Old habits really do die hard.

Every day is a new day, a fresh start. When we wake up, aspire to do our best, to deal with what arises, to not put things off, to not shy away. And at the end of every day, assess ourselves, regret the mistakes, rejoice in our efforts, in our good qualities, and go to bed with a happy mind.

Just keep moving, one step at a time, never giving up!

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Venerable Robina Courtin has worked full-time for Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s organization, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, since her ordination in the late 1970s. Over the years she has served as editorial director of Wisdom Publications, editor of Mandala Magazine, executive director of Liberation Pr*son Project, and as a touring teacher of Buddhism. Her life and work with prisoners have been featured in the documentary films Chasing Buddha and Key to Freedom. Venerable Robina is known for her straightforward and energetic teaching style, helping people discover the potential of their own minds with clear explanations about Tibetan Buddhism and how to apply it to their lives.

Visit her website at https://www.robinacourtin.com

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