February 2026 Lhagsam Newsletter

by Brenda

Day 207 of the Lamrim Year concludes the section on karma with a beautiful invitation to consider the positive karma we have created in this and/or past lives, the benefits of which we are now able to enjoy. Lama Zopa Rinpoche points out:

“Every minute of the day we are getting teachings on karma from everything we encounter.”

He invites us to look at the flowers we enjoy, and I decided to accept this invitation and consider flowers through the lens of karma.

My first thought was that I have good eyesight, which enables me to see the flower. One of the attributes of a precious human life is having a healthy body and mind, so here, straight away, is the ripening result of some positive action from the past. How excellent it is to have this precious human life, in which we have “the propensity for … the appreciation of beauty on our mindstream.” Although I find it quite hard to imagine a person completely incapable of appreciating beauty, nevertheless, perhaps a cockroach or a giraffe experiences a flower very differently because of their distinct karmic experiences.

I then considered the good fortune of living in a place where flowers are able to bloom. There is a balance of warmth and cold, rain and sunshine, and so on. This is not a desert or a rocky landscape, nor is it a war-ravaged region where little or nothing is able to grow. Our environmental circumstances, again, are the result of positive karmic actions from the past.

Another thought occurs to me: I have enough time to contemplate a flower, whether real or imagined. I am not forced to spend my days struggling to secure food, safety, or shelter. Through the kindness of others, these necessities are readily available to me, and for this I am deeply grateful.

Finally, Day 207 reminds us that “everything in our mind [is] a karmic projection” and encourages us to “create our own world.” If I wish to enjoy similar freedoms and fortunes in future lives, I must create the causes for them now. This places responsibility firmly with me – to remain as mindful as possible of the actions of my body, speech, and mind; to guard against negative actions and to cultivate positive ones.