Although others may cause us pain, we can control our suffering (Click image for video)

Bodhisattva come to teach us?

Or just an incredibly annoying person? 

We all know her. She’s the one who happily informs us that we’re doing something incorrectly. In front of others.

The one who commends our good work to others. Then humbly adds that she was the one who talked us into doing it.

The one who describes her memory as faultless, but gets the facts of what we accomplished wrong.

It sure feels like an incredibly annoying person, right?

Maybe not. Granted, the odds of meeting a bodhisattva are pretty slim. But the reality is that we can’t be sure. Bodhisattvas know what we need to learn. And they teach us. Things like patience in the face of frustrating circumstances. Or knowing what is truly important as opposed to what soothes our ego. Or the benefits of remaining quiet because defending ourselves would result in animosity, not the truth revealed.

With wisdom, even that annoying person can serve as our personal bodhisattva. It all depends on what we tell ourselves.

Which could be the best teaching of all.

Do not seek the measure of your actions’ worth in the eyes of others (Click image for video)

I didn’t want ...

I could have ... 

If only ...  

Regrets, self-reproach, guilt. We can learn from these and become better people. Or, we can be overwhelmed by them, forever reliving past mistakes. Events unfolding in our present lifetime were set into motion by our thoughts and actions from countless lifetimes ago. In other words, whatever is happening is supposed to happen.

Yes, we’d have better health if we had spent more time easing others’ worries instead of being absorbed in our own.

Yes, we’d be happier if we had the courage to do the right thing in the face of opposition.

Yes, we’d be enjoying more good fortune if we had put others ahead of us.

We didn’t do any of the above. So now we suffer. But suffering need not become a permanent fixture in our lives. Learning cause and effect allows us to understand why we are in our current situation. But don’t stop here. Put our newfound understanding into action! Now!

And we will reap the benefits of a better situation in the future.