Haemin Sunim

There is a famous Buddhist saying that everyone appears as buddhas in the eyes of the Buddha and everyone appears as pigs in the eyes of a pig. It suggests that the world is experienced according to the state of one’s mind. When your mind is joyful and compassionate, the world is, too. When your mind is filled with negative thoughts, the world appears negative, too. When you feel overwhelmed and busy, remember that you are not powerless. When your mind rests, the world also rests

Life teaches us through our mistakes.

When you make a mistake,

simply ask yourself what you were meant to learn from it.

When we accept such lessons with humility and gratitude,

we grow that much more.

To be happy, it’s not necessary to expend great effort so we get somewhere else.

How can we better understand our negative emotions and try to resolve them instead of suppressing them? The answer is fairly simple. All we have to do is separate the raw energy of negative emotions from linguistic labels like “anger” or “hatred” and then witness it calmly until the energy morphs into something else.

When someone criticizes another,

you might think he deserves it.

But if you look more closely,

you’ll see that the critic is complaining because he did not get his way.

So do not be so easily swayed.

When you attack someone,

it is often because you are afraid.

If I had to summarize the entirety of most people’s lives in a few words,

it would be endless resistance to what is.

As we resist, we are in constant motion trying to adjust,

and yet we still remain unhappy about what is.

If I had to summarize the entirety of an enlightened person’s life in a few words,

it would be complete acceptance of what is.

As we accept what is, our minds are relaxed and composed

while the world changes rapidly around us.

Do not try to control those around you.

When you cannot control even your own mind,

what makes you think you can control others?

Remember that you are neither your feelings nor the story your mind tells about you to make sense of them. You are the vast silence that knows of their emergence and their disappearance.

No matter how effective the medicine may be, if you demand that someone take it, it can taste like poison.

An instant emotional reaction often leads to a regrettable outcome

People usually prefer talking to listening.
Ask many open-ended questions and listen with genuine interest

We like to get involved in other people’s business,

thinking we are doing so for them.

We offer unsolicited help and interfere with their lives.

We take away their power and make them feel incapable.

This stems from our desire for control and recognition.

It has little to do with love.