Observing the current bizarre and vituperative state of U.S. politics (and after all, the personal is political, and I've found that my own life is often a mirror of the world at large) ... for some reason, despite everything I know and have learned about life, it sometimes still surprises me to find out I'm not alone, that I'm not the only person to whom irrational and seemingly unfair things happen.
That sounds silly even as I write it, because it seems so obvious, and it is obvious. But I guess when you're in the middle of it, slogging your way through the swamp amid the "slings and arrows", it's easy to lose perspective and see the situation as confirming some shameful personal failing all your own, or a burden of pain that you alone are carrying.
Then I am reminded of how universal my experience is; that I am, after all, a member of the human race. I think, in fact, that's one of the most profound lessons this year has given me.
(14) A bodhisattva’s practice is,
Even if someone were to publicize throughout the thousand,
million, billion worlds
All kinds of unpleasant things about us,
To speak in return about his good qualities, with an attitude of love.(15) A bodhisattva’s practice is,
Even if someone exposes our faults or says foul words about us
in the midst of a gathering of many wandering beings,
To bow to him respectfully,
distinguishing that he’s our spiritual teacher.(16) A bodhisattva’s practice is,
Even if a person whom we’ve taken care of,
cherishing him like our own child,
were to regard us as his enemy,
To have special affection for him,
Like a mother toward her child stricken with an illness.(17) A bodhisattva’s practice is,
Even if an individual, our equal or inferior,
were to treat us insultingly out of the power of his arrogance,
To receive him on the crown of our heads respectfully, like a guru.-- from Thirty-seven Bodhisattva Practices by Togmey-zangpo
(Translation by Alexander Berzin, 2006)
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