Handle With Care

“Gentleness indicates greater strength than harshness.”

-Han Shan Deqing

 I wonder if we can solve a lot of our problems by being nicer to each other.

 When I hear things like “People are too sensitive these days”

OR

“That guy got what he deserved” when someone experiences the consequences of bad decisions

 

I just wonder where the compassion is.

 Life is hard. It’s hard for everyone. All of us are facing many challenges throughout our lives. This can be a tough thing to remember. Suffering is the norm in human life. It’s fundamental. It’s not our fault we suffer. Some of our problems are self-inflicted, certainly. But many of them aren’t.

We judge each other harshly. We look down on people who have made different decisions than we made.

We could all soften our tone with each other. We can all be gentle and in this way make our world a slightly better place.

 When someone is terminally ill, you often see a manifestation of kindness. We are generally pretty nice when we know someone is about to die. We respond to them with gentleness and compassion.

 Can we try to apply that the rest of the time?

The world needs more kindness, more compassion, more love.

Can we handle people with care?

I’m interested in trying. Are you?

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Good Enough

On the Bodhisattva path we are striving to save all beings. We are trying to put all other thoughts aside and just work for the benefit of all.

But sometimes we forget to include ourselves.

We’re taught to not judge others, to avoid looking down on them, to recognize their experiences are different from ours.

To each their own. Harmony in a world of difference. These are good things. Judgments tear people apart in ways that few other things can. Avoiding judgment is good. Judgment represents aversion, one of the three poisons that the Buddha warned us about. If we can avoid judging other people that is wonderful.

But I think sometimes we forget to avoid judging ourselves.

I’m bad at managing money. I’m not very good looking. I’m broken. I’m not smart enough. I’m too selfish. I make only bad choices. I don’t have good abs. I’m not lovable. This or that person is better than me.

I’m not good enough.

These are my examples of self judgment. Most of us have these kinds of things sometimes. Maybe all of us do. Some of us have these kinds of thoughts a lot.

We don’t think of these kinds of thoughts as aggression, but they are. It’s not peaceful to think of ourselves in these ways.

So I’m here to tell you:

 

You are good enough.

Please don’t forget.

 

Student: “Master I am very discouraged. What should I do?”

Master: “Encourage others.”