An Important Lesson Of Wisdom I Learned From The Buddha

It is better to conquer yourself than to wind a thousand battles. The the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you.” – Buddha

It was about the summer of 2008, when the Buddha came to me and shared his love and wisdom. I wrote an article, What I Learned From My Visit From the Buddha, to share this with you.  But first, here’s an introduction… 

In a very spiritual experience that I once had, Buddha came to me unexpectedly one afternoon. Astonished, I felt his presence a couple feet to my right, and as I adjusted to his being there, he explained that his teachings had been changed over time.

Letting go…

“Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” – Buddha

He said that his original teaching consisted of helping people to let go of  attachment to OUTCOMES. That word, added at the end of what Buddhists have generally been taught, makes all the difference. Although I’m not a Buddhist, I am very interested in the teachings of spiritual masters, and as such, my understanding has been that Buddha taught us that life is suffering, and in order to get out of the cycle of suffering we need to let go of attachments, period.   

Life is always changing…

The past is already gone, the future is not yet here. There’s only one moment for you to live.” -Buddha

After communing with Buddha, I realize that he did teach that getting rid of attachments would help, but that was not all… He taught that getting rid of attachment to outcomes was the key. The reason this would help was because over time, things are guaranteed to change.

When you realize this, even if things are not going according to plan in the present tense, hang on and don’t worry.

Things will change. You may even be able to affect some of the change you are looking for – especially if you manage to stay relaxed,  allow the energies of constant flux to work in your favor, and realize that time is on your side. 

The final word, outcomes, which had been somehow left out of the teachings handed down, made all the difference.  I realized that since life is ephemeral, we can’t really hold on to anything anyway. Then, as we let go of worrying about what we can’t control, and realize that it’s all in flux anyway–we can calm ourselves and recognize that everything really is in Divine Order…