Help In Getting Out of Situations?
Question: “Should you not ask for help in getting out of a situation that you created?”Answer: Buddhism is a unique religion that is nontheistic; therefore, there is no supreme being to ask help from. So, where do Buddhists turn for help?
On a fundamental level, we believe that we have created all of the situations in our life as the result of our past karma. Karma is often misunderstood as some kind of pre-destiny, but in its most simple form, it is simply cause and effect – every action produces seeds of karma that will ripen in this or future lifetimes. Therefore, everything that happens to us in this lifetime is the result of past karma and everything that we do in this lifetime produces new seeds of karma. So karma is constantly at play.
When going through a difficult experience there is nothing wrong with asking for help from our friends or family. Buddhism places great emphasis on the spiritual community that is referred to as “sangha.”
We are all going to have to deal with difficult or painful situations in our lives and from time to time all of us need help and emotional support. If we respond negatively we are only going to make the situation worse and sew negative seeds of karma for the future.
Through the practice of meditation, Buddhism’s main practice, we can develop awareness and insight to respond to every situation with compassion and wisdom.
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