Every endeavor is covered by some fault, just as fire is covered by smoke. Therefore, one should not give up the work born of his nature, even if such work is full of fault.

Krishna (THE BHAGAVAD GITA)

What I have come across in my journey is the feeling that there was always something “wrong” about what I said or what others have said. Notice I said “wrong”, because immediately, some person full of wisdom would say there is no “right” or “wrong”. Apparently, I have to use a different set of words to make that sentence proper.

Once upon a time, someone asked me about “dharma” which I naturally translated to “teachings”. They said to me, you mean “teachings of the truth?”. At that moment, I thought to myself “I don’t really care about the truth. I want to live my life in peacefulness and joy.” You know, we are taught in Buddhism, to be mildly careful about pursuing certain truths (i.e. creation of the universe, the soul, etc.). Even if I knew the answer to certain truths, you and I would still be suffering. Regardless, after having had that thought, I was able to smile and be happy of their devotion as truth-seekers, as that is the path they have an affinity for.

Whether in religious or spiritual circles, I found myself in conversations about the true definitions of qualities such as “love”, “confidence”, “compassion”, “faith”, etc. and people come across different interpretations. We take people’s answers that feel slightly off and build on top of it. Some people say relationships are about giving and receiving back (which I think is a beautiful relationship). A wise person proceeds to correct this and says, that you give, and expect nothing to receive back.

If I said the phrase “Find your inner peace” in hopes that you will be happy, some wise person would say “You don’t need to find it, you live the experience of inner peace”. I would hope that getting caught in linguistic semantics does not astray from the sentiment but it often does.

I would always try to give my best to help others when I could, and some wise person would say to me “You should work on loving yourself before helping others.” Admittedly, only until recently, could I truly smile when someone told me this. Some time before, I would think to myself, “Why are you judging me for me trying to give my best effort to help another?”

I too find faults in people’s words. Most often, people say some phrase such as “I can’t be happy because of this situation”, or “I can’t love this person enough in my family because I do not the resources or a job to do so”. I almost always want to, and sometimes do, tell them they can still be happy regardless, or love another regardless. I take another moment to tell myself to be grateful of their intent regardless of their phrasing and hope the best for them.

Here now, I would like to pursue wisdom beyond words. There are only so many finite modes of expression that I simply hope that you choose what is best for you. I hope regardless of whatever words you choose or whatever practice you choose, that you are on the right path for cultivating loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.