Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent school-masters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.
Doing good to others is not a duty. It is a joy, for it increases your own health and happiness.
Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.
Fasting in the monastic community is considered an ascetic practice, a “dhutanga” practice. Dhutanga means “to shake up” or “invigoration”. The Buddha, as is well known, emphasized moderation, the Middle Way that avoids extremes, in all things. Fasting is an additional method that one can take up, with supervision, for a time.
