I’m not That Influential, What Can I Do?
Can you motivate yourself by a deep desire to help all living beings transform their suffering and bring them relief and happiness? Put yourself in the mindset that you can alleviate suffering and all beings want to free of suffering. You offer something valuable, don’t you? Try alleviating your own suffering and aligning with your purpose and you will likely be more successful.
“I promise to make a sincere effort to practice alleviating my inner suffering and the suffering of others. I will help them manifest as awakened beings for the happiness of all beings.”
You can say, when your child is struggling, “My child, hold my hand. Let’s not get caught up in our thoughts and feelings. Let’s bring our attention down to our bellies and breathe in and out. This storm will pass. Don’t be afraid.”
You can teach them to do belly breathing with you. That will restore their inner peacefulness.
Wrong perception and misunderstanding
Rather than punish someone for looking at the world differently, you could say,
“Look also into the cause of your distress. Often, we are trapped by many wrong perceptions and prejudices. We feel rejected, humiliated, ignored. We believe the other person wants to destroy us. In truth, we are afraid only because of our wrong perceptions.
We can practice contemplative meditation to recognize the presence of our misperceptions. We must look deeply, to undo the knot of delusion binding our perceptions, freeing us to see that our anger arises out of ignorance and misunderstanding. Our anger is not their fault or their responsibility.
Look deeply, you might notice that the other person is also suffering, and they need help not punishment.”
As Adapted from Thich Nhat Hanh by Don Boice
Can you motivate yourself by a deep desire to help all living beings transform their suffering and bring them relief and happiness? Put yourself in the mindset that you can alleviate suffering and all beings want to free of suffering. You offer something valuable, don’t you? Try alleviating your own suffering and aligning with your purpose and you will likely be more successful.
“I promise to make a sincere effort to practice alleviating my inner suffering and the suffering of others. I will help them manifest as awakened beings for the happiness of all beings.”
You can say, when your child is struggling, “My child, hold my hand. Let’s not get caught up in our thoughts and feelings. Let’s bring our attention down to our bellies and breathe in and out. This storm will pass. Don’t be afraid.”
You can teach them to do belly breathing with you. That will restore their inner peacefulness.
Wrong perception and misunderstanding
Rather than punish someone for looking at the world differently, you could say,
“Look also into the cause of your distress. Often, we are trapped by many wrong perceptions and prejudices. We feel rejected, humiliated, ignored. We believe the other person wants to destroy us. In truth, we are afraid only because of our wrong perceptions.
We can practice contemplative meditation to recognize the presence of our misperceptions. We must look deeply, to undo the knot of delusion binding our perceptions, freeing us to see that our anger arises out of ignorance and misunderstanding. Our anger is not their fault or their responsibility.
Look deeply, you might notice that the other person is also suffering, and they need help not punishment.”
As Adapted from Thich Nhat Hanh by Don Boice
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