A teaching in the Buddhist tradition
People who get angry are people who don't seem to realise that it is entirely human to make mistakes. For as long as you remain human you will make mistakes. Because others are human, they will make mistakes. That is the reason why it is said in the Scriptures that we all need to forgive, not “seven times but seven times seven”!!!
Everything remains satisfactory for only a short time. No matter how much weeding or gardening you do, sooner or later the weeds will return and the garden will look very untidy again. The job never finishes. Sooner or later, you need to start all over again. So, unless you get to understand it, you will always find an excuse to be dissatisfied or get angry.
It is contentment that brings you real happiness, not the accumulation of material things. Note: nothing in life is at a standstill; change is inevitable. All things are transient. We ourselves are only here for a time, not forever.
So stop looking at what could go wrong or fall short. Look at what is going right, what you already have, not what it is that you haven't got!
Learn to do nothing, not all the time but some of the time. Why? Because you need to take it easy and treat yourself with kindness from time to time! “Why should life be so full of care, that you don’t have the time to stand and stare?”
Work for contentment. Know when to say 'enough is enough'.
Let me share with you some other thoughts.
To make the body fit and energetic, you need exercise it; to make the mind clear and energetic, you should rest it: you stop all thinking, all wondering, all working and all worrying.
Have you figured out why other people get angry with you, why they rail at you? Why they treat you badly at times?
Very often, if not all the time, it is not because of what you did or what you did not do. You are not the cause of their anger. You happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time!
The real reason behind their behaviour is that physically, they are not well. They are irritated. For whatever reason, they are not feeling well. They could be lacking in self-discipline. They have not made allowance for mistakes. In essence, they are the problem. And until they realise that the problem is with them, they won't change!
It needs to be realised that people think only what they want to think, believe only what they want to believe; see only what they want to see and say only what they want to say. All too often, they are not interested in what the facts are!
Once you get to understand that, then you can begin to forgive and equally important, you can learn to put it all out of your mind.
It is so difficult to understand another person; but once you get to understand where they are coming from, you can accept things as they are. Realise this: people are different because they have had different early conditioning. When we get to realise that things are only as important or unimportant as we make it out to be, we can be more accepting of the way things are. A better understanding of the world as we find it leads to a better understanding of other people and of the way we are.
When you get to understand what makes the world tick, what it is that settles people and what unsettles them, you will find real peace and contentment. Even without being deliriously happy, you can still enjoy life.
The art of getting along with others is to refrain from trying to change them. They are what they are by choice. They can't and won't change, not until they realise that it is the right thing for them to do. So, give them time. Over time, everything changes.
In : Important Message