To Think Positively

By Category: Buddhism in Everyday LifeTags:

Humans are thinking animals! Since the beginning of time, there have always been people who fantasize, who have delusions, who dream—and many who have ideals. When we lie in our beds at night, we should be free from worry. Yet thoughts about our lives often arise then; thoughts about family, country, or even the world. Everything is within our minds.

The average person often tends to think of him or herself in a more positive light, but may have negative thoughts about others. In our thoughts, when something concerns us, even if it is not good, we tend to be forgiving toward ourselves; but when something of a negative nature concerns others, we are less likely to be as forgiving. Humans tend to be forgiving toward the self and strict with others. 

However, if we are as critical of ourselves as we are of others, and as positive about and forgiving of others as we are about and of ourselves, then life would truly be wonderful.

When we consider the thoughts of the saints and sages, we see that their thoughts are all about carrying the responsibilities of the world on their shoulders. But when we consider the thinking of those who are bad, we see that their thoughts are all about how to take advantage of others.

In this world, there are so many people who wish to accommodate and help others; they sacrifice themselves for the good of humankind. However, there are many others who scheme and plot, with the intention of making trouble for others.

A thought, then, could be heaven or hell.

A thought can be about oneself or about you, or it may be about him or her. We are all mixed together in one another’s thoughts. There are thoughts about Buddha Land and the Pure Land. There are thoughts of others based on gossip. Sometimes there are thoughts about evil spirits or animals. If all the abstract thoughts were to be accumulated together, the entire universe would not be large enough to contain so many troubling thoughts and delusions.

Since ancient times, questions about how to regard human thought have posed major problems to the world. Some believe that intellectuals should be respected, although many great thinkers have been executed for their thinking. Even so, they advocate freedom of thought. Thinking should indeed be free, but within reason. There should be guidelines for thought. A person who is able to think righteously, truthfully, kindly, beautifully, and positively about everything is truly wise.

It was originally published in All in a Thought, written by Venerable Master Hsing Yun.

Image from Pixabay.

More Featured Articles

Conducting Oneself for the Benefit of Others
If we want to understand what the Dharma teaches us about building affinity and living in harmony with others, we must first understand the four great all-embracing virtues. The Buddha teaches that for us to realize our true capacity of connecting with and serving our fellow citizens, we have to first build a good rapport, and the four virtues are tools to that end. The four Read more
Have Respect for Life
Life is the most precious thing in the world, so it is imperative that we respect it in all its forms. Not only must we have regard for human life, we must also respect animal life and the life of any organism in our ecosystem. The worst offense a person can ever commit is to violate the life of others, or even to cause harm Read more
The Significance of Breathing
In the Sutra of Forty-Two Sections, the Buddha asked his disciples, "How long is one's life?" One of the monks replied, "A few years." The next one answered, "A few days!" Another one said, "Less than one day!" Another responded, "Between meals!" Finally, the Buddha said, "Life lasts for the duration of one breath." Life is extraordinarily precious and yet it is based on a Read more
The Unsurpassed Value of Impermanence
Birth and death are realities of life. Regardless of who we are, we cannot escape either one. While birth is celebrated, death is feared by most. In order to cope with our fear, we often seek comfort in religion. Although each of the world's major religious traditions has its own teaching concerning death, Buddhism is the only one that promotes the doctrine of impermanence as one Read more
A Good Reputation
We should always try to see the good in others, not the bad. On the samsaric level of this saha world alone, back-biting and faultfinding are known by most people to be totally counter-productive. Not only does faultfinding produce nothing but anger and mistrust, but the effects of negative speech also create an environment in which it becomes difficult to do anything positive. Read more
To be Flexible
If someone is too tough or stubborn, one can say that they have a cold heart, or even a heart made of stone. But consider this: our teeth may be hard and rigid, but they will each fall out as we get older. On the other hand, the tongue more or less retains its form even after we die. In general, things can sustain themselves Read more
Inspire and Be Inspired
Do you feel inspired when you see people help each other? Not everyone is. Some people may look at a generous donation and say, “Donating such a small amount of money is nothing extraordinary for such a rich person.” When other people suffer from disasters and pain like the many people killed in the South Asian tsunami and earthquakes, don’t you feel for them? Doesn’t Read more
Born into Tribulation, Raised in Adversity, yet Experienced a Lifetime of Joy
People often ask me, “What ad­versity have you experienced in your life?” And for a moment, I can­not come up with an answer. I have always maintained the attitude of taking things as they come, as in the sayings “When the soldiers come, de­ploy the generals to fight back; when there is a flood, use earth to stop it” and “When encountering a mountain, cut Read more
Repentance
It is only through loving-kindness and compassion that we can find room in our hearts to forgive others. It is only through our willingness to let go of resentment that we can find a way to magnanimity.  Read more
The Web of Human Relationships
Human beings are social animals; we cannot live apart from community. As Buddhists, we are told to seek the Dharma among the people, for the Dharma does not exist in some other world or far away place; the Dharma is here among us, embodied in each and every being. When we understand that human society is nothing other than a web of human relationships, we Read more
Learn to Admit Your Faults
One of the biggest weaknesses in today’s society is that we have developed the habit of not saying we are sorry. Once we grow up and rise in status and knowledge, apologizing becomes harder and harder. But human beings are not perfect sages and we all make mistakes. Being able to correct our mistakes is a virtue in itself. This ability to amend our actions Read more
Development of Mahayana’s Four Universal Vows
While the Four Noble Truths explain the phenomena of the universe, the Buddha expounded on them mainly as a guide for life. It is inadequate, however, to merely learn the Four Noble Truths. We must resolve, cultivate and practice accordingly. We must end the causes of suffering, practice the path, and reach the cessation of suffering in order to achieve liberation. Consequently, the Four Universal Read more