The You Who Fail To Change Your Destiny

I have been reading Dharma Brother Lotus Woo’s writings for at least 10 years. In this article of his, I see traces of myself and shadows of my clients. Sharing the translated version below:

A snake entered into a carpentry workshop and was slightly hurt by a saw as it crept towards a corner. Instinctively it turned back and bit back, injuring its mouth in the process. The snake thought that the saw retaliated and it decided to wrap itself around the saw in order to suffocate the saw to death! Exhausting all the energy it had, unfortunately, the snake was eventually sawed to death by the saw.

Rage, anger and emotional outburst can never solve your problems. Instead you will be led down a black hole sometimes. Do not instinctively point the fingers at someone else for the hurt you are going through, when in actual fact, it is your own weaknesses that are making you suffer. When in emotional turmoil, learn to let go….

Lotus Woo:
What a fantastic analogy!

The real reason for your sufferings is your own ignorance. But you are completely unaware, thus it is called ignorance.

You always assume it is another person who is causing your wretched destiny. That it is the fault of others. That you chose the wrong place for your rebirth.

Therefore, you began to pray to the Gods and the Buddha’s and believe in a religion to change your destiny. You think that you are diligently trying to turn the tide. Unfortunately, your efforts are placed in the wrong direction.

Farther and farther away you walked! You continue to get reincarnated endlessly, with no easy escape from sufferings. But you are oblivious to this fact and persist in your diligence.

In the end, you become like the snake in the above analogy, battered and scarred all over and finally die from your own instinctive ignorance. You will blame the Gods and Buddhas for being powerless and throw away your faith. Or you will think that you have not worked hard enough or are not pious enough.

Why is it so tough to change your destiny? Because it is so difficult to change your habit of thinking.

The first step to changing your destiny is to start from your habitual mindset. It is actually the ignorance of your mind, a combination of greed, anger, ignorance, love, desires, arrogance and doubts, that forms the habitual thinking pattern in you.

When transformation occurs in your habitual mindset, your habitual choices will change, and subsequently, your habitual actions will also change. The people you interact with will then evolve. Gradually, your environment also changes. Lastly, your destiny will be transformed.

Let me tell you something. Even the kind of rebirth you will take in your next life is a direct result of your habitual mindset. Birds of the same feathers flock together. At the end of the day, it is down to your choice of habits!

The above illustrates the Yogachara school of Buddhism. I merely expressed it in laymen terms using modern language!