Forgiveness is not just for major wrongs.

We often think of forgiveness in terms of major misdeeds. After all, forgiving is hard to pull off. Surely, it requires a serious reason. But if we save forgiveness just for major wrongs, we lose a vital cultivation tool. We need to forgive on a regular, not occasional, basis, because it is the everyday slights, not the major misdeeds that we keep running into. When others impugn us; mistreat us; inconvenience, irritate, or just plain bother us, we need to forgive. Then stop thinking of the person, and get on with our life. How do you forgive and forget, and why bother? Understanding causality, we realize that what was just done to us was the natural result of a karmic deed. And we remember that just as we want to alleviate our suffering we should also wish to alleviate the suffering of the other person. Together, we have been fueling the flames of our shared anger like two people anxiously fanning a smoldering fire. When we forgive another person, the fire is doused. 

Words have the power to destroy.

They can be the knife that slices,

the gun that shatters,

the club that smashes.

With alarming ease, hurtful words can stream out of our mouths as unrestricted as a flood-swollen river crashing through a dam. And just as everything in the way of a raging river is laid to waste, those stricken by our verbal onslaught can end up dazed, wondering what just happened. Having spoken harsh words, we may find the courage to apologize. If we are fortunate, the other person will forgive us. While forgiveness lets us off the hook temporarily, we may still have to endure future karmic consequences. But worse, we will have broken the fundamental precept of “Do no harm.” Instead of giving fearlessness, we will have given fear. All because we have, yet again, given in to impatience and intolerance. This cannot continue. We need to slow down, realize the harm we are doing, and develop patience. We need “Amituofo.”

Nurture the heart of respect

for all beings,

regardless of form or nature.

The first of Samantabhadra’s Ten Great Vows is “Respect all Buddhas.” That sounds easy; how could we not respect a Buddha! We need to better understand the word all.  “All Buddhas” are not just current Buddhas, but those of the future as well. Who are these future Buddhas? All sentient beings. Since all sentient beings have Buddha-nature, all will become Buddhas. Now let’s go one step further: all insentient beings have Dharma-nature. Dharma-nature is the same as Buddha-nature. So all beings, sentient and insentient, have the same nature. How do we show our respect to such diverse beings? To sentient beings—human and animal—we offer fearlessness and friendship. Non-sentient beings, those objects we come into contact with, we care for in a fitting manner, keeping them clean and in order. We thus appropriately respect all beings: sentient and insentient, regardless of form or nature.

Not liking what we see,

we can always stop looking. 

The distractions we encounter seem boundless: short-lived products crammed floor to ceiling on superstore shelves; waiting-room magazines discussing everything from gossip to sports to politics scattered on tables and stacked in wall displays; ceiling-hung news-reporting TVs everywhere we turn in airports and restaurants. All shouting “Look at me!” All vying for our attention. All luring us in. What’s a person to do! Instead of stewing over poorly made junk, the latest political squabbles, the news headlines we cannot do anything about, just look away. Averting our attention, we block the visual “noise” while protecting our pure mind. How do we look away? By distracting ourselves. We could change our focus by turning to something familiar and calming. Or, better still, we could replace the raucous dialogue racing through our mind to the soothing, inspiring sound of “Amituofo.”

Not only should we do what is right,

we need to do so correctly.

What are some incorrect ways? One is to envisage a coveted outcome. This invariably sets us up for disappointment since things rarely turn out as we anticipate. Another is to act egoistically. Perhaps we dream of succeeding where many have failed. No one need not know, we just long to hear that inner voice: “Yes! I knew I could do it!” Or possibly we do indeed imagine others congratulating us. How can we avoid such pitfalls? Just as a horse with blinders on his bridle is forced to focus on what lies ahead, we concentrate on our goal. Thus focused, our aspiration to do what is right becomes free of expectations and ego. We seek to do something for one reason: it’s the right thing to do. Personal views, fame, success do not matter. We do our best hoping conditions will provide fertile ground in which the seeds of our aspirations can take root, and maybe, just maybe, even grow a little.