The Wheel of Sharp Weapons of My Negative Karma When Driving

The Wheel of Sharp Weapons of My Negative Karma When Driving

Date Posted:
September 2009

Rinpoche made the following comments about how to deal with problems when you’re driving.

When you are driving along in your car and suddenly another car goes in front of you, you get upset. Then, the next car does something they are not supposed to do in front of you or next to your car.

When this happens immediately:

Remember that this unfavorable condition is my negative karma created by my selfish mind, my ego. This is the wheel of sharp weapons, the negative karma I created when I harmed others, circling back on me now. Without delaying for even a second, while the wheel of sharp weapons of my negative karma is turning on me, I immediately use it to cut my enemy, my ego.

Rejoice how this is the happiest, most wonderful thing in life—using the wheel of sharp weapons of my negative karma, produced by my ego, to cut my enemy, my ego. This is the happiest life, the most wonderful opportunity in life—to cut my ego using the sharp weapon of my negative karma. I cut the ego with the wheel of sharp weapons produced by my negative karma circling back on me.

Feel unbelievably happy!

Here, first, you are accepting the problem, as it is caused by your karma. By doing that, it pacifies the negative emotional thoughts, feeling upset or angry. The second thing is that you're looking at the shortcomings of ego, the harm given to you by ego. Third, you are using the harm given to ego to turn back on and cut the ego, that means destroying the ego, the self-cherishing thought, so that then bodhicitta can rise. From that you can achieve enlightenment. Then, you can liberate numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and enlighten them. When that happens, that’s the ultimate goal of your life, the very meaning of your life is completed.

WOW!

This is one example, and you must think similarly in daily life with anything that annoys you, which disturbs you suddenly. Think like this about something with which it's difficult to practice patience, like when anger suddenly arises.