Bodhisattvas fear causes.

sentient beings fear results.

Bodhisattvas understand that every cause will have a consequence, thus they strive to both avoid creating evil causes and generate virtuous causes. In this way, evil karmas will be eliminated and virtuous ones will accumulate. This allows bodhisattvas to improve their conditions and advance along the path to supreme, perfect enlightenment.

Sentient beings on the other hand are like children who after committing a misdeed hope they will not get caught. When they are found out, they often blame others and may even retaliate not realizing that such retaliation is yet another cause, a cause that will incur yet another result leading to further suffering.

To stop fearing results, we need to focus on the present instead of trying to escape the past. How? We remain constantly alert to what we are doing, to what causes we are creating.

Without a cause, adverse consequences will not occur and we will have saved ourselves from their associated suffering. 

Instead of automatically reacting

with sarcasm or trying to be clever, think again.

Will our sarcasm impact the listener?

Will our wit ridicule another? 

For a variety of reasons, ranging from wanting to make others laugh to being considered witty, we react on occasion with sarcasm. But what is sarcasm? It’s a form of anger. We think we are being clever but, actually, we are being unkind as we ridicule another person or situation. There’s a good reason the Greeks defined  sarcasm as to “tear flesh.”

Instead of trying to be clever, when actually we are angry at some deep level, how might we react instead?

The Infinite Life Sutra speaks of being “good, pure, and gentle.” Gentleness includes kindness, respect, and humility. When acting from gentleness, we will be planting the causes for kindness and respect in our future instead of being dismissive of others while planting seeds for our own future humiliation.

Ordinary beings view things dualistically: 

as two, not one.

Awakened beings understand 

that all phenomena are one, not two.

Viewing worldly matters and things with a dualistic mind, we view everything as being in opposition, as one or the other, this or that. Thus, we categorize things in opposing terms such as enjoyable or displeasing, superior or inferior, beautiful or repulsive. Discriminating in such a manner, we spend much of our time trying to obtain more of what we desire while strenuously avoiding that which we dislike.

Awakened beings understand that all phenomena are one.

For example, we and another person might view a spoon from opposite sides and argue over whether it is convex or concave. Seeing only our viewpoint, whether it is a spoon or anything else, we argue and can easily end up acting foolishly.

But awakened beings would understand the spoon, etc. is one object with different aspects. Seeing things in their entirety, as one, awakened beings are in accord and proceed together wisely. 

Greed is wanting things 

to occur as we wish.

Anger arises when we fail 

to obtain what we want.

One of the many wonders of the Pure Land is that all beings there are selfless and gentle. Anger simply does not exist as the causes for anger are wholly absent. How very different from our world, where we regularly encounter anger in a variety of forms including impatience, irritability, exasperation, sarcasm, and, yes, sometimes even rage. To help us achieve rebirth in the Pure Land, we would do well to attain the level of equanimity where we remain calm and in control when encountering the anger in this world.

It is not that we do not care about the issues that lead people to anger.

We do.

But we understand the principle that anger arises when desires are unfulfilled and  expectations not met. By letting go of craving and expectations, we begin to let go of anger.

Learning is like going upstream in a boat: 

if we do not advance, we fall back. 

It is the same with cultivation; 

if we do not progress, we regress.

Learning and cultivation need to be done daily. While a few hours are the goal, this is not practical for many people. Thus, setting aside a few hours on the weekend can feel more achievable. But even if such a weekend schedule can be met, the benefits are reduced.

First, we have not had the daily chanting that calms us and strengthens our connection to Amitabha Buddha.

Second, cultivation is more than formal practice; cultivation is applying the teachings every day.

Third, there is a sense of accomplishment in setting a goal and meeting it.

And fourth, daily teachings—even brief ones—help keep us on course in our cultivation so we understand why things happened and how we are to proceed.