Puppets

[DSFriend]

Recently, i met a very ill man who fought so hard to live. He finally gave up the spirit to live due to being in so much pain.  He died very soon after... The very same day, I came across a young lady who is strong and well, but does nothing daily with her life.

Most of us are fortunate that we are not in such a predicament, of being in great pain every second of our lives or engulfed by deep laziness, forcing us to let live pass by...

But are we really living our lives fully?

We see people who are ill fighting so hard to be alive, yet.. what was so significant about these people's lives when they had it. What is so significant about my life now that I have it. What would it take for me to give up on others, to crumble and lose hope due to mental and emotional pain?

Giving up on others is the day we have given up on life itself. May that day never come.

Holding on to disappointments, hurts and any ill feelings and thoughts is similar to an unescapable, lifeless puppet on strings.

May our Protector blesses us to use this precious life, focusing on developing virtues for ultimate happiness.

[WisdomBeing]

I know of two people who have committed suicide because they were depressed. One of them was a woman in her thirties who had a good living - she ran a bar (hmm perhaps that's not an ethical living according to Buddhism) and she had a loving partner who had no clue that she was depressed until after she committed suicide.

The other was a young 21 year old boy who had the world at his feet - materially wealthy yet mentally unstable. Both had good health, all their limbs in working order, yet they were so emotionally deficient that they gave up their lives.

When i think of all those who are suffering from terminal cancer or other diseases who would give anything to have a healthy body, those who committed suicide really wasted their lives. And they thought they could escape whatever suffering they felt by dying, but according to Dharma, they are now in the lower realms.

I wish everyone who is depressed could learn about the precious human life and Dharma so that they could find the REAL way out of suffering. And for those of us who are fortunate enough to have met the Dharma, we should really put it into practice so that we can bring Dharma to others too.

[thor]

Does anyone have tips on what to do for a person who is old and quite ill? My aunt just had a heart attack and it would be great if someone could share the best way I can help her, particularly anything related to Dorje Shugden. She is a non-practicing Buddhist so the solutions can't be too hardcore. Any help would be much appreciated.

[kurava]

Hi Thor,
Perhaps you can tell your aunt about this enlightened being who appears as a monk and is ready to help and comfort any one if one just chants his mantra whenever one could.

Monk is easily visualised by anyone , even a non buddhist. Then slowly you can give her a picture or pendant of DS.

My prayer & best wishes to your Aunt.

[pgdharma]

Does anyone have tips on what to do for a person who is old and quite ill? My aunt just had a heart attack and it would be great if someone could share the best way I can help her, particularly anything related to Dorje Shugden. She is a non-practicing Buddhist so the solutions can't be too hardcore. Any help would be much appreciated.

I am sorry to hear of your aunt's health. You can recite DS mantras and dedicate to her or if she is capable to recite herself, then ask her to do so. Just tell her this protector is very powerful and can help her in her recovery and convince her to trust this protector.

[Tammy]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Whenever income across people who are suffering (both physically and mentally), other then lending a helping hand whenever possible, I am always reminded of how blessed my life is and has been. And I thank my accumulated positive karma which brought me to this life with dharma.

Lets count our blessings each day and remind ourselves to be charitable and 'beef up' our merit bank for better future lives.

[biggyboy]

When i think of all those who are suffering from terminal cancer or other diseases who would give anything to have a healthy body, those who committed suicide really wasted their lives. And they thought they could escape whatever suffering they felt by dying, but according to Dharma, they are now in the lower realms.

I wish everyone who is depressed could learn about the precious human life and Dharma so that they could find the REAL way out of suffering. And for those of us who are fortunate enough to have met the Dharma, we should really put it into practice so that we can bring Dharma to others too.

Thank you, WB.  Well said.  It is so important for all who has the opportunity and fortunate to meet Dharma, experiencing it and seeing the truth, to help others to find that ultimate happiness along the way.

[dorjedakini]

I have the same experience as well. Some of my friends just think that why should be worry for tomorrow as everything is planned by God and they are fine now. They do no believe karma and how we want to live is depends on oneself.

My Lama told me many times, we must always think Guru, Yidam and Protector are one, recite the mantra and dedicate to the person we care, believe it strongly.

May lama said, everytime we recite Shugden mantra, Shugden will for sure look at us and "hear" our prayers, never underestimate his ability, We must daily keep up our prayer and serkim offering as well.

[Gypsy]

Holding on to disappointments, hurts and any ill feelings and thoughts is similar to an unescapable, lifeless puppet on strings.


Totally agree with this quote! Why i'm saying so is because I have a close relative who suffers mentally a lot. He is a pessimist, quite negative towards life, self-centered and high ego make him do not trust people. When he encounters stress at work, all his anger, frustrations and negativity come together that makes him a very difficult person, then he starts having thoughts like why do i suffer so much for the family (he is the breadwinner) while others can just sit back at home and enjoy life, etc kind of "unfair" thoughts...then the wife suffers because of the emotional blackmail like keep saying wanna commit suicide...What i know about this person is he cannot stand disappointments, when things don't go his way, he got screwed up. Very hot tempered man.

Does anyone have any solutions especially DS practice which can help this relative of mine? What practice in particular to do? Thank you in advance if you could help..

[Positive Change]

Classic case of our deluded minds... thinking the grass is always greener on the other side. We do not appreciate what we have and dwell on what we do not have. A constant pursuance of something that will make us unhappy, thinking it will make us happy. Just stop, contemplate and be thankful for what we have... a beautiful human life whereby we can use to gain attainments to be released from the whole samsaric cycle of what we think makes us happy!

Time to grab hold of those strings and not let our delusions control us!

[bambi]

It is really sad that people who want to live die young/illness and some people just throw it away because they are depressed. I was depressed at one stage but I was lucky to have Dharma and mantras to help me overcome it. In the end, I realized, what about people who are sick and dying, they are not depress but instead they will themselves to live. May those who are depress find the solution like I did in DS.

[KhedrubGyatso]

Yes, we are puppets controlled by the strings of karma.But we do have choice to break free. If we don't learn how to, there is actually not much difference between any of us whether we are now healthy or not, useful or not or happy or not. At one time or another, we all have to go through life's trials and tribulations with much uncertainty.Whether environmental, bodily or mental, there is suffering moment by moment.
Whatever we  going through in whatever form is  actually experiencing the suffering of aging, illness and death.
If we can't break free in this life, at least grab the right string to take us to a good rebirth as a human by taking refuge and understanding karma. Better still , practice guruyoga ,maintain clean samaya with our Guru and protector and we create cause to hold onto the golden thread that will lead us to Maitreya's pure land after we bye bye to  this temporary body of ours.

[yontenjamyang]

Yes, this is another reminder of the suffering that all beings in Samsara goes through. Even the highest beings in Samsara suffers; doesn't matter young, old, which gender, rich or poor or whatever demographics. Basically everyone suffers. The recurring theme is that we should use this precious human life by practicing virtue, avoiding negatives starting with the refuge vows (if not taken refuge, then please do it as soon as you can), have Guru Devotion and so on.
For me, it is important to know we are not here ourselves; that we are all connected intimately, others suffering are as important as ours.
It may be good to bless these unfortunate people that we know with a connection to Enlightened Beings, ie by giving them statues, pendants, Lamrims and start them on mantras. Just ask them to try mantras and see if it make them feel better. Perhaps, if we have the opportunity, we can also offer pujas to them, the best being those done in the monasteries.
Do our best. It matters!

[Poonlarp]

I was very very depressed in a few circumstances in my life and did think of suicide to end the pain. I think it's all because, I was expecting my life to be perfect and flawless. So anything that "threaten" my flawless life, I didn't want to continue. Just like playing computer games, if I fail the 1st time, I would restart the games again even I have 2 more "lifes".

This is also another way of a puppets life which stringed by expectation.

After I realize cause and effects, I started to focus out as focusing in myself brings me no where as everybody dies anyway, and nothing left in the world forever. So this completely turn my life upside down and I found longer happiness.

Even the sufferings didn't stop, but now I can use a broader view to see sufferings are beneficial to make us a better person. 

I remember a lama said this when he was giving advice to a patient who is going to have a heart surgery that, when you feel pain, you imagine this is the pain I bear for all the sentient beings, so they won't have to go through this pain, let me bear this pain for them. This powerful thought can lead us to be a more compassion person that we would go through anythings for others.

So please use positive thoughts to string our puppets well so we can have wonderful lifes after lifes till enlightenment.

[sonamdhargey]

We focus very much on ourself. When are faced with difficulty we tend to run, avoid and push the problem to others. So the suffering only gets bigger because we do didn't face the issue and resolved it.

In fact when we check deep inside our minds, it is always our perceived thoughts that dictates our actions. Self cherishing thoughts, negative thoughts only brings more problems. We are like a puppet to our minds. We are controlled by our thoughts. Change the way we perceived, we change the world around us.