Everything is a Blessing

A Bodhisattva sees everything as a blessing, as joy, because a Bodhisattva does not see any stain in any person or in any circumstances. A Bodhisattva sees all of life as being an education, therefore a blessing.

Shantideva says, “If we can learn the Dharma teachings, the six paramitas, from sentient beings, as we can learn from the enlightened ones, why don’t we pay homage to sentient beings like we do to the Buddhas?” Everybody is a teacher, and everything they throw on us is a teaching.

People may abuse us, they may be mean to us, be judgmental, but everything is a teaching to the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva does not have to fight for his own well being. The tougher life is for the Bodhisattva, the stronger he or she becomes. When a sentient being goes through tough times, however, he or she becomes weaker and weaker, protecting the wounds incurred by the delusion of the sense of separation.

Why does the Bodhisattva become so happy and so mature when going through hardships, and why do ordinary sentient beings become so injured? Obviously the difference in experience has to do with the difference in perception.

Sentient beings look at things in a dualistic way, in terms of good and bad, fortune and misfortune, what can be had versus what one isn’t getting. A Bodhisattva does not look at things in this dualistic way. Everything is good weather. There is no bad weather. If the sun shines, it is good. If it rains, it is good. There is only one circumstance, there is only good luck, because everything is a blessing. Everything can be used to bring up one’s own limitations and be a teaching to help us learn to be happy, to acquire freedom in natural unfoldment. What could be better than this, if it is the cause of enlightenment? Every circumstance is the cause to be enlightened.

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Bodhisattva’s Heart Wish

We say going to school is good fortune, or winning the lottery is good fortune. But that is understanding in a very mundane way. If we look at life from a Bodhisattva’s perspective, everything is good fortune, because a Bodhisattva is life. His or her heart becomes bigger and bigger, infused with more and more happiness, with greater and greater love. This happens because there is no distinction between what is thought and felt, seen and heard, tasted and touched, even smelled. Everything is the display of the Bodhisattva’s pure heart. A Bodhisattva can go anywhere, do anything, even act outrageous at times, because the Bodhisattva only experiences love and compassion.

The Bodhisattva’s heart wish is for all the sentient beings who are connected with him or her, in a positive or negative way, to be liberated through his or her path, through his or her activities. People who love the Bodhisattva, or people who torture or try to hurt him or her, there is no difference. Both are seen as teachers. When encountering the challenges of life, Bodhisattvas develop and practice more compassion, more love, and more joy because their sole intention is to awaken completely for the benefit of all beings.

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Adversaries are the Greatest Teachers

Enemies may be a greater teacher than anyone else in our life, because the enemy can really push our buttons and bring out all of our limitations. It is very easy to love our dog, our friends, or our relatives, sometimes, and it is easy to love people who love us. But it is difficult to love people who don’t mean anything to us, especially people who are negative toward us. Especially if you are in contact with them, it is hard to have true, genuine compassion toward them.

Let’s say you loved all sentient beings except one. That would be enough to keep you from enlightenment. Just by hating that one single being would keep you in samsara. So we have to rely on the enemy as a powerful object and teacher and go beyond our conceptual hang-ups to be truly Buddha, truly Bodhisattva. These Bodhisattva teachings are quite amazing. We are comprehending the view and now we have to keep the commitment.

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