Inspired by one of my favorite sutta. Mangala Sutta

[The Buddha:]

To reside in a suitable locality,

to have done meritorious actions in the past

and to set oneself in the right course — this is the greatest blessing.

In this stanza from the sutta, Buddha advised his devotee on what causes blessings in life.

Suitable locality

Living environment plays an important part in our life and will influence us in the long run. Therefore it is a very practical advise from Buddha.

A suitable environment will provide us the necessary support to succeed in our secular and spiritual goals.

Besides physical factors such as safety, cleanliness, weather conditions, infrastructure etc, the Buddha also emphasized the importance of spiritual growth.

This means that the locality should allow us to engage in Buddhist practice, such as observance of precepts and performance of wholesome deeds. If the neighbors are kind folks who rejoice at wholesome deeds, then our practice will flourish and be appreciated in the community.

If meditation is your practice, then perhaps a quiet neighborhood would be better.

Furthermore, it will be great if we live in close proximity to a Buddhist centre or a qualified Buddhist teacher. That way, we can visit them regularly for learning and discussion.

Past good karma.

If we had done good deeds in the past, then good results will happen to us. Thus this is a blessing in life.

We can sometime observe how certain people need to put in very little effort and their life seems to fall neatly in place and they do extremely well. That is because of their good karma (good deeds done in their past and resulting in good situation now)

Right course

Finally, we must have the right resolve and set ourselves in the right course of action, speech and thoughts. This will affect our future.

Remembering karma, we must resolve to do good and avoid evil. (Morality)

Remembering the Triple Gems, we must have faith in them. That way, we will staunchly follow the path towards happiness.

Remembering Enlightenment, we must engage in spiritual pursuits that leads towards enlightenment.

If we follow thus, then blessings will come into our life.