Adjust or Confront

Often times in life I am faced with the dilemma on how best to respond. When facing a difference in opinion should I stick to my views and values or should I adjust with the others. Would adjusting with others mean that I am comprising my values? Or should I stick to my own gun, have my own thoughts and always do things my own way.

I recently read an article on the importance of assessing a situation and seeing when to use the power to face or confront.

I found the article most useful as a guidance. We don't always have to be correct. We don't always have to be righteous. We need to be able to adjust and co-exist harmoniously in a world where there are many different types of people. But at the same time we should not adjust too much when it goes against what we truly believe in. The article mentioned the following:

We have to discern when to use the power to adjust and when to use the power to face or confront. When it comes to difference of opinion and ways of working, we need to adjust with others, not confront them. But when there is abuse, exploitation or compromise of values and principles, we need to confront, not adjust.

Picture source: Internet

Hope this helps you, as much as it helps me, as we face similar dilemmas living in a complex world.
 

Drup Tshe Zhi

‘Drup Tshe Zhi’, or the fourth day of the sixth month of the Bhutanese calendar, is one of the most sacred days of the Buddhist calendar. After attaining enlightenment at the age of 35 years, some 2600 years ago, Lord Buddha gave his first sermon in the Deer Park at Sarnath – present day Varanasi in India.

This auspicious day honors  the day of the first teachings of the Buddha when he talked about the doctrine of the Four Noble Truths and the Middle Path to the five monks who became his disciples.

Picture source: Internet

 The Four Noble Truths forms the foundation of Buddhism. They are:

1. Life is full of suffering. Suffering of birth, old age, sickness and death is unavoidable. The suffering must be borne alone. It is a part of life and cannot be avoided.

2. The truth about the causes of suffering (the root cause). The cause of suffering are craving, desire and ignorance. It is important to understand the cause because without that it is not possible to do away with suffering.

3. The truth about ending suffering (the cure). The key to end all suffering is to remove all desire, ill will and ignorance. Only then can a person gain Enlightenment.

4. The truth about the path to liberation. One must follow the Middle Path and the Noble Eightfold Path – namely (1) Right Understanding; (2) Right Attitude; (3) Right Speech; (4) Right Action; (5) Right Livelihood; (6) Right Effort; (7) Right Mindfulness; and (8) Right Concentration. Following this path will ultimately lead to an end in suffering.

Picture source: Internet

It is believed that the effects of positive or negative actions are multiplied multifold times on this day.

So hope that good deeds have been done, good thoughts thought, good words spoken and good efforts made. Happy Drup Tshe Zhi everyone.

Disciplining of self

Self-discipline is an important attribute. It is what keeps a person strong and moving forward. It is the characteristic that distinguishes between those who achieve much and those who don't.

Though some people have more self-discipline than others, it is an attribute that can be developed and strengthened. A conscious effort must be made. We must first know what it is that we want to do, to achieve. It is important to set goals and targets. And we must then try consistently to meet these goals and targets.

I say all this, because I just looked back and found myself lacking somewhat in this effort. It has been a while since my last post, despite my desire to write regularly. It is so easy to lose focus. To find so many other important things that need to be done. To simply be lazy.

So once again, I would like to pull up my socks and write... meaningful things when I have something to write about, or even meaningless things so that I can at least keep up my efforts.