Sunday Sermon
 
Time.
It will tell, it waits for no man, it heals all wounds... 
 
A famous Buddhist teacher once said, "time flies as an arrow from a bow." Although Buddhists usually believe in some form of reincarnation, the most important incarnation is this one; being born human is the greatest of blessings. Only a human can become enlightened, so it is important to make the most of this life - you may not get a chance to be human again for a long time.
 
The fact is, unless you have made spiritual growth a priority in your life, you are probably not making very good use of this time. I find it hard to fit in the devotions and meditation that I need, but I keenly feel the lack of them as well. How do we make them mesh?
 
One solution is to fit small moments of spirituality into your daily activities. Here are some ideas that I've collected... 
 
There are numerous Email services that provide you with a thought for the day. My favorite is BeliefNet. It provides daily messages from numerous traditions, and they keep the spam to a minimum. As you check your Email you can check your karma...
 
365 Buddha by Jeff Schmidt is just one of the books in the 365 series of daily devotional guides. There are similar titles for Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, Hindu, and Islam. Keep one or more on the bedside table and spend a few minutes each morning getting in the right frame of mind.
 
Sometimes having a place of peace is as close to having inner peace as we can manage. This site offers a brief (and oddly translated) essay on home altars. Here is another, from a different tradition. I find that offering incense to the Buddha allows me to rise above the hectic activity of the day, even if just for a moment. I like to spend 5 minutes or so on this sort of ritual after returning home from class/work.
 
Community can be very important as well. There are no less than 20 spiritually oriented clubs on campus - they are listed here. Go forth and find others like yourself...
 
Lastly, I'll make a plea for meditation. You don't have to fold yourself into a pretzel and chant for an hour every morning. You can get real benefit from even just 5 minutes of quiet sitting. The instructions given here are pretty general, but you can find many others with a simple Google search.  Use that time before class, waiting for the shuttle, or standing in line - it all adds up. Your focus will be clearer, and your blood pressure lower.
 
Use your time wisely. It goes by very quickly. If only I could get back the 90's...
 
Go in Peace.