How to Cultivate Good Habits for Practicing the Path

It is very worthwhile to spend a certain amount of time and energy cultivating some good habits, just as, for mass production, one must spend time, energy, and cost to manufacture molds. At this stage, it takes painstaking effort and time, but once the molds are made, producing goods afterward saves an enormous amount of time and cost—achieving twice the result with half the effort, saving at least four times, or even countless times, the time and cost. This is extremely worthwhile. The stage of cultivating habits is very arduous, with repeated successes and failures, advances and retreats, and it is not easy to persist. At such times, one needs someone nearby to supervise and encourage; being able to have companions who mutually supervise and encourage each other makes things easier. As for which good habits need to be cultivated, each person must deliberately make choices according to their own circumstances, so as to change worldly habits that do not accord with the Dharma principle and with cultivation, and develop the good habits of a practitioner of the Path. 

Observing the breath is the initial point of entry, and it is a fairly good method for cultivating initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra) as well as right mindfulness and right awareness. It can cultivate a meticulous power of observation and power of introspection, and can effectively counteract unwholesome worldly habits. Examine yourself: what changes have occurred in your mental processes in daily life? Has your attitude toward people, matters, objects, and principles changed? Has your mind become somewhat purer? Has your grasping (upādāna) toward form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas lessened? When encountering unsatisfactory things, are you able to go along with conditions a bit more? Are you less picky? Have your interpersonal relationships improved somewhat, with more affinity? Has your disposition become somewhat kinder? Has your state of mind become somewhat more peaceful? Do you resort to unwholesome thoughts less often? Have you become somewhat more honest and kindhearted? If, after examining yourself, you find that you have indeed made the various improvements described above, then it shows that your cultivation is on the right track, and that the contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of the four foundations of mindfulness is effective. You must continually examine your mental conduct from every aspect, promptly make summaries, know what is wholesome and what is unwholesome, maintain and consolidate good results, improve unwholesome habits, and cultivate good habits. In this way, your roots of goodness and merit will accumulate ever more deeply, and your precepts, meditative concentration (samādhi), and wisdom will advance more and more.