“Suffering & Sadness Unite Us”
A commentator on this blog just wrote this phrase.
It’s so true.
Becoming a Buddhist, or becoming anything as part of a middle-class lifestyle, doesn’t do any good for anyone. Paying lots of money to go on retreats doesn’t mean we have any realisation or empathy.
No empathy means no understanding.
We do suffer, but no longer notice it because we have become so used to living this way. The horrendous thing is that there are those who make a fortune out of world misery. And those who merely sit on their specially-named cushions without genuine compassion are part of this historical mess.
Our true teacher is life experiences,
and our reactions to these experiences.
Suffering, sadness, depression are not pill-deficiencies;
they are teachings!
If we are not angry at what is going on in the world,
we are merely bystanders.
Anger is mirror-like wisdom!
A negative emotion, such as anger is, in the very first instant, the presence of pure consciousness. Pure seeing comes first.To the realised, this anger maintains the spontaneous presence of pure consciousness, without acting out the anger and causing harm.
We can only change the world for the better when more people realise what they are, and what they have always been … enlightened.
BUDDHA IN THE MUD is a blog - a living book based on the Dzogchen teachings. Our teacher is life, and life is karma. In this way, Dzogchen is practical - no bells and whistles required. 
“If we are not angry at what is going on in the world,
we are merely bystanders.”
I wholeheartedly agree. I suppose this is the reason why at times get angry too, or it’s more like background anger which I’m aware of, but I’m not happy about. It builds up sometimes, it’s an internal thing. Anger is hidden sadness about the way things are! Seeing and hearing injustice rubs me the wrong way and it can’t be ignored. That’s because there is empathy and we want to see less suffering in the world, while some are intent on creating more. It might be frustration about that too.
As I continue to practice mindfulness and meditation, I am aware of such emotions arising within me. Anger is something that I’m still dealing with, perhaps learning to accept it. Have I learned to let go of it fully? No! So I don’t try to resist what is.
If we observe things from the soul’s perspective we can see that all is well, if it all really is supposed to be as it is and it’s just a divine play. However, as mere people we see that there is much wrong and to be fixed! I supposed that is the human dilemma. How much to accept, how much to “fix”.
All of life is a meditation!
Step by step we realise more and more. A stream will turn into a water fall. That which is aware is pure consciousness and can never be stopped, just side tracked for awhile.
Tony