Keeping Distance

We sometimes see signs on the highway warning: “Keep a safe distance.” Actually, it is not only in driving that we need to keep a distance. For safety reasons, any person and anything in the world needs to keep a distance.

Take, for instance, the human body. Our eyes, nose, and mouth all need to keep a distance from one another. Our internal organs all have their positions. The teeth and tongue in our mouth must keep a distance because if our teeth accidentally bite our tongue, it hurts.

When we plant trees, vegetables, and flowers, we have to measure the right distance between them so they can grow well. The distance between the words and sentences of an article should be right, to allow easy reading.

When communities build apartment complexes, there is often too little space in between and as a result much conflict takes place among the neighbors. If there is more space for fences and walls, keeping a distance between them, then even children may not fight as much.

When we view a painting, we need to see it at a certain distance before we can truly appreciate its beauty. When reading a book or newspaper, our eyes will see clearly and not hurt when we do so from the right distance. We keep our homes a safe distance from water sources, so that the water will not be contaminated. With criminals and other undesirable elements, we also want to keep a safe distance.

Some people fail to keep a distance from harmful matters in exchange for profits. They often find it hard to stay away from these matters.

For instance, some people who are curious, or who for health reasons use drugs, eventually become addicted. They will find it very difficult to give up their addiction. So keeping a distance from drugs, when necessary, is very important.

On the highways and roads, there are medians, double yellow lines, bypass areas and similar installations. They are all built to keep distance between moving vehicles for safe driving. In hospitals, quarantine areas are designated with warning signs so that people can keep away. In zoos, there are also signs warning people to keep a safe distance from the wild, caged animals to avoid unnecessary injuries from any possible attack. In the park, certain regions are kept off limits to protect the plants and flowers growing there. We also keep a distance from high voltage wires. In addition, we keep a distance from polluted air, steep cliffs and rushing rivers.

Our unwholesome thoughts, ideas, or any actions and speech that may hurt others should also be kept at a distance. While we should keep a distance from everybody and everything that is bad and dangerous, we should stay close to anything that is good and benevolent for us.

From Seeking Happiness, written by Venerable Master Hsing Yun.

Image from Pixabay.

More Featured Articles

Harmful attachments are often described in Buddhist literature as impediments or hindrances because they block our view of the truth and prevent us from seeing our own Buddha nature. Read more
Everyone in this world wants to have wealth and live a carefree life. They also want a good rebirth. Richness in this life and pleasure in the next are the hallmarks of a successful life.In the Sumati Sutra, the Buddha defined a "successful life" to be wealth in this life and happiness in the next life. Having wealth in the present life includes an elegant, proper appearance, Read more
The Buddha often explained emptiness and impermanence by getting people to think about how phenomena arise, change, and decline. Read more
At the many places I engaged in practice and study—at places such as Qixia in Nanjing, Jinshan and Jiaoshan in Zhenjiang, and Tianning in Changzhou, where I was brought up experiencing spring breezes, summer rains, autumn frosts, and winter snows—I studied silently and grew up quietly. I was always thinking as to how I could repay Buddhism’s kindness. I could not make a living by depending on Buddhism over Read more
It is my hope that our Buddhist monks will all become monks who give support in all directions and not become monks who live off all directions. Whoever it may be, the monastic followers or the lay disciples, although we have not yet attained enlightenment, we can still broadly make affinities with others first, so as to become aspiring bodhisattvas who will ensure that “Buddhism Read more
"To bear disgrace and insult" is the most important virtue a person can possibly cultivate, because the ability to forbear is enormously powerful, since a moment of anger can destroy an entire lifetime of merits. By restraining our emotions, we have a better chance of avoiding confrontation and gaining control of the situation at hand. Otherwise, our minds will be clouded and our judgment impaired. Read more
Birth and death are realities of life. Regardless of who we are, we cannot escape either one. While birth is celebrated, death is feared by most. In order to cope with our fear, we often seek comfort in religion. Although each of the world's major religious traditions has its own teaching concerning death, Buddhism is the only one that promotes the doctrine of impermanence as one Read more
The analysis of the mind in Buddhism is both multifaceted and sophisticated. As a spiritual practice, Buddhism contains numerous descriptions of the nature and function of the mind and instructions on how to search for, abide with, and refine it. In this regard, Buddhist psychology has much to offer, as does Western psychology.In the beginning, “psychology” referred almost exclusively to “a science that explains the Read more
"Walk like the wind, stand like a pine, sit like a bell, and rest like a bow."This basic etiquette not only applies to Buddhists; everyone should practice it as well in daily living.When we first meet a person, we can tell the level of his/her education and cultivation by his/her manners. We know how refined a person is by the way he/she speaks and conducts Read more
Observing the precepts is the concrete manifestation of compassion and the bodhisattva path. Read more
Humans are “masters of the myriad creations of this earth” but are also the creators of problems. The arising of all problems in this world is related to humans, including today’s problems concerning environmental preservation. They also arise because of humanity’s selfishness, ignorance, and interruption of the harmony and natural cycles of the world, to the point where there are continuous natural calamities and changes. Read more
What are people supposed to do when they are troubled by afflictions? Some people are troubled by very specific things, others encounter poverty, and many have poor relations with other people. Some individuals are disturbed the moment they hear even the slightest comment they do not like, or they become angry when they see someone doing something they do not approve of. This sort of Read more