Question asked by cg
Dear Pastors, How does a beginner who wishes to practice dharma talk to oneself/ cajole/convince oneself about taking full responsibility for one's actions? From what I understand this is the foundation of Buddhadharma? Also, what is life in the dharma like for yourselves? Please kindly advise me as I would like to have a good purpose to my life too. Thank you kindly.
Dear cg,
Thank you for your question. It is a very important question because it applies to all Buddhist practitioners, especially beginners. First, it is important to understand the Dharma. The Buddha taught that we are the cause of all our suffering. But we are also the creators of our own happiness. And since we ourselves created our problems under the influence of our delusions, we can also take the responsibility to solve them by changing our attitude and modifying our behaviour. This is how one can convince oneself about taking full responsibility for one’s actions. Taking responsibility for one’s actions means not blaming others for our failures, not making excuses for our wrong doings, not breaking our promises, not being lazy, and so on. Instead, we must have loyalty and integrity, be harmonious with others and keep our promises. If we become responsible for our actions, we create peace and well-being for ourselves and for others.
There is no difference between you and the pastors. We also practise what the Buddha taught and try to bring the Buddhadharma to others because we know the benefits. The Buddha’s message of peace and happiness is for all. As H.E. Tsem Rinpoche said, “how happy we are is how much we do for others.” This means that we are really the cause of our own happiness which comes from cherishing others. Rinpoche also said that “happiness is never achieved unless we apply dharma.” Therefore, our advice to you is, in order to have a good purpose in your life, you should learn the Dharma well, understand it and apply it in your daily life.