Awakening.

Buddhism is not a religion to me. Buddha is not a God in the monotheistic sense. Buddha means something like “the awoken one”; it is, or would be, a state of my mind. 

We could start by training to achieve awareness of the consequences of our actions, our words, our thoughts. 

I read many years ago about some words the historical Buddha supposedly said: "No one can do as much harm to you as your own thoughts". 

Back then, I had no idea what this really meant and how true this is. 

We’ll talk more about thoughts and mental hygiene in the coming chapters.