Being Our Own Spiritual Protector

We all have faults; that’s why we are sentient creatures and not fully enlightened Buddhas. These faults arise from our mistaken self identity; we react by becoming aggressive towards others in order to defend and maintain this self identity. This exposes our own weaknesses. Our reactions say more about us than they do about that to which we are reacting… and we lose our inner peace. On an ultimate, level life is our teacher, and so our supposed enemies are our helpers towards our goal!

It’s not going to work 😀 if we think that being rotten to others will be the cause of their enlightenment! If that was the case, we’d all be enlightened – NOW!!!

The only faults we should focus on are our own. There are two ways of looking at that – conventional and ultimate. On a conventional level, if we pay attention to our own faults, we will appear less confrontational; we’ll be nicer, and more empathetic. On an ultimate level – if we are truly practising spirituality – we are aware of the continuity of practice after death. We will not let a moment’s inattentiveness pass unnoticed. This is why some practise in isolation so as not to be distracted.

Although we may think that our incarnations are limitless and so we can just keep on going the same old way, if we consider that this may be our last incarnation …we won’t want to spoil it, would we?!

Not reacting ends karmic production. When we are no longer ambushed by likes and dislikes (at an ultimate level), we are free. The responsibility for this is in our own minds. No one can do it for us – not even a Buddha. If that was the case, we’d all be enlightened NOW!!! 😀 😀 😀