After a rough night, we discussed what happened on our tour bus the next day. One way to look at it is that the eight people just had plain bad luck. Another way to look at it is that the eight people were the luckiest of all the tour members. Why would I say that?
One of the eight had willingly volunteered because she wanted to test herself and go against her normal tendency to avoid volunteering for something of this nature. Once she found herself in the old, dirty, unsafe hotel room she became angry. Then she looked back into her past, to her family problems, and saw that those problems stemmed from her same pattern of behavior. Thinking of her unresolved anger towards her mother, she realized that she was the one who had volunteered to live away from home and care for her grandmother. Her mother hadn’t volunteered or forced her to go, as she had perceived to be the case this entire time. She saw that in both the grandmother and hotel situations, she had volunteered without asking for more information. She didn’t realize what she was getting herself into. In both situations, she could’ve spoken up and expressed her discontent, but she chose not to. There was no one to blame but herself.
This practitioner was able to use this situation to her advantage. She dug up old grudges and discovered how she was the root cause of her anger and resentment towards others. To reap more benefit from this situation and contemplation, the root cause must be destroyed through evaluation. Use the same old tools: impermanence, suffering, harmful consequences, impending perils. Related to living with the grandmother, isn’t it true that that experience has shaped her into the people-smart, street-smart person she is now? That her younger brother missed out on so many opportunities that allowed her to mature?
And regarding the hotel rooms being uninhabitable – is the hotel really that bad? Is it truly unsafe? What determines safety or cleanliness? Who determines it? Is it perceived the same way by all people? Or is it solely a personal opinion? These are all considerations to make when evaluating our wrong viewpoints. This is only an example of how a bad situation can be turned into a valuable lesson. Do you have one to share? Please comment below.