Never Listen Blindly

recently i just learned a lesson which i find may be quite important for everybody.

"Never listen blindly to what others say"

Isn't this a rather true statement? Many times, we listen blindly to what our families, or best friends say about other ppl and we blindly accept these truths without further investigating the truth of them. We cause turmoil and misunderstanding by spreading our so called "truths" to other ppl expecting that they blindly listen to us and take our sides too.

Im not proud to admit it, but one of the reasons I stopped working in that company was because of listening to ppl's opinion. Ppl saying tht my manager was a strict one. Ppl saying tht the job would see endless nights, starting the day before the sun is up, n leaving the office after the sun is down. Ppl saying tht the job was super stressful and sometime u got no sleep. Ppl saying this n that. Ppl back biting the boss or their colleagues. Ppl saying how awful and bad my luck is. I believed it all...and that was how I end up where I am. But its okay, I forgive myself, bcoz I've never met a situation like this before, n now I have, now I learn tht I can't listen to them.

At tht time, I didn't even realize how I was so affected by something based on OTHER PEOPLE's perspectives. Now when I have had the time to think more logically, I think...wait...in uni...didn't many ppl hate certain subjects, saying those subjects were impossible to pass..saying that failure rate was extra high?..but for those very same subjects, did I not somehow enjoy them? did I not get great grades for them? Weren't there times when I thought that this n this food was so delicious n was so well made, n when I brought my friends or family there to try it, they said it was so-so as they didn't share my taste? Weren't there times which I thought tht something could hv been done in a different or sometimes I believed as better ways, but other ppl said tht those things had been very perfect?

So tht concludes it! Everybody has different tastes, preference, likings...sometimes we think that we r so in common with other ppl tht we forget tht how we were motivated for a certain action for different reasons. For example, 2 ppl may speak in loud and harsh tones. Person A does so because he gets irritated by people easily. Person B does it only because in his household, everybody speaks like this, so it is normal for him, there is no anger. However, we shouldn't judge Person A either for being an angry person. It is possible tht in his past, ppl were always angry towards him, hurtful even and he has no idea how to forgive them and this leads him to think tht people in general r bad n will hurt him, so he will not let them hurt him by hurting them first? See?...Does this story not make u suddenly feel less anger for Person A, does it not make u suddenly feel more compassionate tht this person was once hurt b4?

Lord Buddha once said, never accept anything blindly(without wisdom), without first investigating on it. Even the dhamma, we do not blindly accept everything. Not the 4 Noble Truths, not the 5 Precepts, not the Eightfold Noble Path. We must learn to investigate. Investigate is life really full of suffering? is this all impermanent? is there really a way out of this suffering? is this done through the noble Eightfold path?..n of course, this cannot just b done only by simple logical reasoning. It has to be done through mindfulness meditation, because by being mindful of our moment to moment, then we can see the rise n fall or suffering, the impermanence of it all. Hahahaha...wow Im one to preach this...I haven't even practice them at all!..

To conclude this whole post, I want to be a better person. Like Ajahn Brahm says, if u know what u want in life, then put those things first, their top priority, everything else falls after it. Accept, let go, relax and we can b mindful. Rmb ineffusive cordiality...rmb to give to reduce attachment...rmb to love to reduce hatred...rmb to b mindful to reduce ignorance!!

Sadhu sadhu sadhu!