Dharma Teachings and Life Lessons

At the Dharma center we did refuge practice and part of it is meditating on "the four thoughts that turn the mind to the Dharma." After leaving the center, as I was approaching the onramp for I-4 East, I saw emergency vehicles on the other side of SR579. A firetruck, an ambulance and a couple of Sheriff Department cars were attending to a motor vehicle accident. Out of my own life experience, I know just how suddenly one of these can happen. In 1983 I almost lost my life in one.
As soon as I see this scene, I am taken back to the words, "thinking about appreciating the precious human life," and "thinking about death and impermanence, that the opportunities that we have now with this precious existence are not going to last," Once again, I am reminded why it is important to study Dharma now not later and to practice now not later. We really can't be sure that we will have a "later" in which to study and practice.