Everything is a Benefactor

Master Sheng Yen remarks in Adage 21 of the 108 Adages, "Feel thankful for the chances to hone ourselves: both good and ill fortune are our benefactors. "This is a very important reminder, and one which really amounts, for me, to learning to accept all situations with equanimity. It’s also a reminder that even when people spend their lives looking for things that give them joy or pleasure, it doesn’t mean that they won’t have vexations. There is no perfection to be found in life, but when my mind is able to accept all situations, everything can indeed be perfect the way it is. This is a subtle turn of mind, but it amounts to realizing that cause and conditions don’t fail, and one is where one is for specific reasons.

Now, does this mean that one should accept the status quo? There is actually no such thing as “status quo”, because everything is always changing. That means that I can be humble about what I need to learn, but I don’t need to feel despondent, or take a kind of hopeless or helpless approach to things around me. Whatever I am able to do, I should do. For example, if I am introduced to a new process at work, I would do well to put my heart and brain into learning the new process as best as I can. But I should also recognize that no one can master everything at once, and things happen in their own time based on the conditions ripening. If I don’t understand a technology the first time, I gratefully accept that there is at least some small aspect that I can grasp or make sense of. Then I know that this too will change and evolve into something else later on.

Learning about complex systems, both at work and in school (see my previous entry on Wenger’s concept) is sometimes daunting. I don’t have a systematic mind to see the whole picture, and sometimes I can only absorb small bits and pieces where possible. However, this is a benefactor in the sense that it gives me something to chew on; a special challenge for me to learn and master over time. Sometimes it can be dry and I will go through times when I am not quite understanding, but then I just take a break and put my efforts back into it again. The same goes with any challenge I face. Trying is much better than giving up.

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