The Wisdom of No Escape

There is no escape from Samsara. There is no escape from pain and loss and tragedy. There is no escape from the endless chain of rebirth. There is no escape from anger and ignorance and fear.

Knowing this, make the best of what you find each day. If you cannot escape from a situation, you might as well make the best of it.

Find joy where you can. You have a limited number of breaths left in this life and no guarantee of a better life to come.

Turn your mind from sorrow, pain, and anger whenever you can.

When you are bothered by the floods, think "this is how the river feeds the land."

When you are bothered by storms, think "this is how nature cleans the cobwebs out."

When you are bothered by fire, think "I am being reminded to let go of the past."

When you are bothered by loss, think "each life must end, as the river must flow, all will return in time."

When you are bothered by anger, think "why do I waste my time on this, it gains me nothing."

When you are bothered by pain, think "pain reminds me I am alive, only the dead do not feel pain."

When you are bothered by sickness, think "I must treat what I can and then look outward to help others. Sickness tricks me into looking inward and I will not be tricked."

When you are bothered by jealosy, think "the happiness of others causes me no harm and jealosy makes me feel bad, why should I feel this way."

When you are bothered by remorse, think "I cannot change the past, I will correct what I can and learn to do better next time."

When you are bothered by resentment, think "I am blinding myself to all that others do for me and I must remember I am not entitled to anything, but must build for myself a happy fulfilling life."