Life is pretty amazing. The impact we can have on the world around us is pretty amazing too. Every single one of us has the power to create amazing positive changes, but we can also cause a devastating amount of harm. Buddhism puts a lot of emphasis on doing no harm. I spend a lot of time contemplating this and trying to live life in a way that minimizes the damage I do while trying to maximize the positive impact I can have on people. I suck at it. I know I've caused a lot of harm in my lifetime and I have suffered deeply for it. I think when we all take an honest look at ourselves, we know we have been wrong on many, many occasions. The good news is that recognizing our wrongdoings is the first step in creating positive changes within ourselves!
The Buddha taught that we need to find out for ourselves what causes suffering, and what eases suffering and creates happiness. There's no rule book, because there are no universal answers that will work for everyone all of the time, so we must do our own investigation. Meditation allows us to quiet our minds and look within to try and understand what our hearts really desire. Even just 15-20 minutes each morning can help all of us enter our days with calm minds and open hearts, which will allow us to act more skillfully. It's an ongoing effort, our work is never complete, but the better contact we have with our hearts the more we can reduce our negative impact on the world and increase the positive.
It should be noted that even though we've all fucked up, and we will all fuck up again and again throughout our lifetime it does not mean we are bad. In fact we are all basically good. All beings just want to live this life and be happy, so on a deep level we are all the same. It's important to keep that in mind and show compassion to others when they fuck up, but most importantly to be gentle with ourselves when we do fuck up. Often times we may find that we have the hardest time forgiving ourselves for our past mistakes, but it does no good to dwell. We must reflect, learn and move forward, keeping in mind that we are only human, and fucking up is part of our nature.
It's easy for us to play the victim, to feed into a self-made drama where we are constantly suffering either by outside or self inflicted sources. However we must always remember this is a choice, and we can similarly choose to drop the drama, leave the story-line behind and just live here and now. It's easier said than done, but meditation helps. Remember, our potential is pretty fucking amazing, a bit of compassion can go a long way. Today and everyday, may we all remember to be compassionate with ourselves and with others. May we accept our fuck-ups, learn our lessons and move forward. With calm minds and open hearts may we all reduce suffering in the world and change things for the better. Remember my friends, we are all human and that's a pretty fucking amazing thing to be.
May you all be happy and free from suffering.
xox,
Mig
Wow. I recently fucked up and caused a lot sorrow. It is better & improved but I feel the forgiveness came too soon. I'll try to keep compassion in mind.
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