“As humans, we tend to look outside ourselves and blame others for our own unhappiness. We tend to blame our bosses, our enemies and our government for the suffering that we experience. The reality is that every difficulty that we encounter is of our own making. We often invite tragedy by taking faith in mistaken religions and philosophies. This is in keeping with the universal principle of cause and effect.”“You will encounter difficulties in life without fail. The important thing to remember is that nothing lasts forever. Financial difficulties, relationship problems and health problems are all temporary—unless you want them to remain as impediments to your faith and to your growth as a human being.
Happiness is sometimes construed as laughter. People often do and say stupid things just to get a laugh. They think that if they can make someone laugh, they will be seen as being “smart.” Instead of revealing their intelligence, they reveal their ignorance. They think that people will think well of them because they entertain them and make them laugh. What they are really doing is diminishing the dignity of their own lives.
True happiness in this world can only come from within and from our faith in and practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Any other notions about happiness are mistaken and will lead only to more unhappiness and suffering”
Excerpt From: Donaldson, Robert. “Buddhism for Today.” iBooks.
