Question

When I go back home, I'm surrounded by people with wrong views and wrong actions. How can I avoid: a) feeling superior, b) feeling depressed, or c) getting influenced by their behavior?

Answer

a) Feeling superior. If we can try to remember who we used to be, we probably had a lot of wrong views and wrong actions. Three questions which can help us to let go of feelings of superiority are, "Am I free of greed? Am I free of hatred? Am I free of ignorance?" By understanding that we are not fully enlightened, we also understand that we have the capacity to slide back. And especially if we get caught up in conceit, it's easy to slide back. So instead of feeling superior and getting the views of self in the way, it's much more helpful to feel compassion for the people who may have wrong views and wrong actions that cause them to create bad Kamma for themselves.

b) Feeling depressed. What helps in not getting depressed about the wrong views and actions of others is to understand we are not responsible for everybody else's wrong views and wrong actions. We're also not responsible for changing everybody. And learning how to accept that Dukkha exists in this world. Reflecting that everybody is the owner of their own Kamma helps with the first process, reflecting on Dukkha helps with the other. That Dukkha does exist.

c) Getting influenced by their behavior. We can try to understand that we are the owner of our own Kamma and we will have to receive the results of our actions. It helps us in being stronger when we are confronted with the eight worldly conditions because sometimes we get influenced by others since we are afraid of their blame and want their praise. Or we are afraid of obscurity and would like to be famous in their eyes. So having compassion for ourselves and understanding that we're the only ones that can take care of our own Kamma. Knowing that we're responsible for our own Kamma helps us be much clearer with what we want to do and how much we will be influenced by others. We have to have compassion for the person we're going to become, and understand that it's our own responsibility and nobody else is going to take care of us.

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