We live in a fallen, compromised world and what is considered normal is not necessarily natural. Navigating this world as children or adults is complicated, not only because so much of the world is not as it should be, but also because the remarkable instrument that we possess as a species—the conscious mind of man—has been coarsened over time, from generations of misuse and abuse.

We cannot change the world without lifting or refining our consciousness just as we cannot expect a new feed in our social media without shifting the emphasis of our searches, interests, and likes. That upon which we focus, grows.

Mahayana Buddhism offers a simple practice to help cultivate greater mindfulness, called “The Six Paramitas.” Not enough people have taken this instruction to heart. I hope that you will, because it is actually quite simple and astonishingly effective.

I would like to focus on the fourth “petal” of this instruction this morning, virya paramita, the perfection of diligence. The Buddha said that there are all kinds of positive and negative seeds—bitterness, anger, and fear and seeds of understanding, empathy, compassion, and forgiveness—found in our individual and collective subconscious mind.

The practice of diligence is learning to recognize these seeds before we water them in our experience. If it is a negative seed, the seed of an affliction like self-doubt, self-pity, anger, jealousy, or discrimination, we should refrain from allowing it be watered in our daily life.

Giving things our attention and emotional energy is a choice. We water the seeds within us and within others by our attention and that upon which we focus, grows. Every time we water a negative seed, we increase internal and external suffering, and this is never justified.

The practice of diligence also involves deliberately seeking to water the positive seeds within and around us. The thoughts you focus on, the feelings you give weight to, the words you speak, and the actions you take water one type of seed or another.

Recognize the best seeds in yourself and in others, and water them. The results will be immediate, even if not immediately visible. Seeds often take time to germinate—especially in the rocky soil of human consciousness—but properly watered, they will grow, my friends, they will grow.