Robina’s Blog

3 March, 2022

We have to ask ourselves why we always have to have an opinion about everything. We are compelled to do it, and it ends up making us crazy. If it's your child, that's a different discussion. But when it's the world out there, we stick our nose into everything. “Look at these people out there! How dare he do that, she do this!” Actually, it’s so arrogant. We act as if we’re saints and everyone else is terrible.

There are various ways to respond. First we can simply observe it and leave it there. We’re familiar enough with the world to know that bad things happen. It shouldn’t surprise us. 

But a really dynamic approach is to use it as a basis of developing your own qualities, to see your own mind, to develop wisdom; or to have compassion. Remember, a bird needs two wings: wisdom and compassion. 

The first one is really powerful and becomes such a rich learning. Every time you see anything bad in the world, realize it comes from the delusion of those people. All we have to do is note: “that’s attachment, that’s anger, that’s killing” – whatever. We are familiar with all of it. But then you say, “Thank you for showing me how not to be.” It’s so simple! But instantly the experience is useful. 

Or you could say, “I recognize that.” Because there’s no delusion we haven’t got in one form or another. As I said, the view of endlessly finding fault, being angry, is so arrogant. If we can’t recognize in everyone else our own delusions, then we’re not practicing.

Then the second approach on the basis of the first one is to have compassion – and if you don’t do the first one, you can’t possibly have compassion. Because compassion for others is based on the clear understanding of our own delusions and that they are the cause of anything, however small, that we do or say that harms others. This is clear fact, but we never think like this.

When we are thoroughly familiar with our own suffering and its causes, then we can have compassion for others because we’re all in the same boat.

And we don’t just have compassion for the victims; that’s all we do now. We’ll have compassion for the harmers as well. 

I’d do this with Mr. Trump. He’s such a good example! I’d say, there’s anger, there’s jealousy, there’s lying, there’s arrogance – thank you for showing me how not to be. And, for sure, “I recognize every one of those faults.”

It’s huge, actually. Only finding fault and then getting angry separates us from the world. This attitude links us to others, opens our hearts, and increases our wish to quit suffering and its causes.

Then, with certainty, the world will not make us crazy or angry or depressed. Try it! You’ll see!