Awakening Lies in a Single Thought
When the prior thought is deluded, you are an ordinary person; when the next thought awakens, that very place is enlightenment.
Am I postponing awakening to some far future, missing the turn of the very next thought?
📝Reflection
Say "awakening" and we picture some grand event after decades of practice. Huineng shatters that illusion: between darkness and light lies the distance of one thought. Even if the prior thought was dark, awareness in the very next makes that moment light. This is enormous comfort. It does not matter that yesterday's self, or the self a moment ago, was foolish. Just turn this one present thought. Change is not a single great event in the far future, but a small turn you can begin anew every moment. We always have the chance called "the next thought."
🌱Apply It Today
When self-reproach hits for one foolish act today, don't dwell there — brighten "the very next thought." The turn is always available now.
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
