I wonder how many of you have heard the song “Seasons of Love” from the musical “Rent.” I’d like to play just a little bit of it for you this morning. 
 
I love the meaning behind this song, which is that each of us has a finite number of minutes in our lives each year. Exactly 525,600 minutes. Not more, not less, but precisely 525,600 minutes. Then think about the length of your life span – it maybe 100 years if you are lucky, but more likely it will be closer to only 70 or 80 years. And each of those years of your life has the same number of minutes in them. 
 
Recently Mary and I had a Muslim student from Turkey for dinner at our house. In the course of our conversation he commented he was 30 years of age and that he had been thinking about how he had spent the past 30 years. He had actually calculated the time spent doing various daily activities. For example he calculated that he had spent a 1/3 of his life (or ten years) sleeping. That left only 20 years. Of those 20 years he calculated the amount of time he spent eating, going to the bathroom, showering, studying and the myriad other mundane things we must do each day.  
 
When he was finished, he figured that he only had spent one year of those 30 years, actually pursuing things that he enjoyed – things that brought him happiness! Just imagine – only one year out of thirty! 
 
I thought to myself, “How sad, to only have had one year or 1/30th of his life in doing things he enjoyed .” But then I thought to myself how many people are just like him. They are what I call people who are “waiting at the train station for the next train of happiness to arrive.” 
 
Of course the teachings of the Buddha are not that it was possible to end suffering only temporarily or only part of the time, but that we can permanently end suffering. That our lives can manifest great compassion and dignity and that every moment can be the source of true and lasting happiness. 
 
As the Nissan TV commercial says "Life is a journey, enjoy the ride.” Many of us are waiting at the train station for the next train of happiness, but the problem with that is that it may never arrive. Or if it does arrive, it most likely will be only temporary happiness – like in the case of the Turkish student. If, on the other hand, we recognize that happiness is in the journey then every moment can be precious. 
 
The Buddha said, “This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds. To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance. A lifetime is like a flash of lightning in the sky, rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain.” 
 
When you contemplate just how short this life is, how can we possibly wait at the train station for the train of happiness? 
 
Instead you must recognize that the seed of happiness exists in every moment - even in sorrow and loss. How? By seeing the nature of reality. Seeing things as they really are – seeing what “is.” It is in truly understanding “impermanence” and not being stuck in attachment. 
 
As the Buddha said – seeing the ebb and flow of life. Recognizing that things are constantly changing and by not clinging to events, possessions or even people, because they are not the source of genuine happiness. 
 
Remember, each of has the same 525,600 minutes in a year. The meaning of life is about how we are going to use them. Are we going to remain stuck in suffering and victimhood? Or are we going to use them for kindness and compassion? Are we going to use them for being of benefit to others? 
 
I’d like to play the rest of the song “Seasons of Love” and as you listen to it, I’d like you to think about savoring every one of those minutes. Not waiting at the train station for the next train, but rather as the Nissan ad say, “Life is a journey, enjoy the ride!”