Whatever It Is, It's About Now

"We have happiness of mind and freedom from anxiety to just the degree that our minds are tamed.... Once we want happiness and do not want suffering, we should engage in the means to achieve happiness and eliminate suffering. Practice is based on reasoning, not force; it is up to oneself.

The time for engaging in these techniques is now. Some feel, 'I did not succeed in this lifetime; I will ask a lama for help in my future life.' To think that we will practise in the future is only a hope. It is foolish to feel that the next life will be as suitable as this. No matter how bad our condition is now, since we have a human brain, we can think; since we have a mouth, we can recite mantra. No matter how old one may be, there is time for practice. However, when we die and are reborn, we are unable even to recite om mani padme hum. Thus, it is important to make all effort possible at this time when we have obtained the precious physical life-support of a human."

-- Deity Yoga: In Action and Performance Tantra by H.H. the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa, and Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications