Lojong Slogan 12 ~ Drive All Blames into One

This is part 12 of my Lojong (Buddhist Mind Training) SeriesWhen things go wrong in our society we tend to look for the person to blame. With little evidence to support us, at times, we accuse another person or group for what we feel is wrong. At times there is a finger pointing right back at us! Take religious conflicts- both sides feel they are correct in blaming the other side.Often times when we are busy assigning blame we stop short of truly finding out the cause of a situation. Once we have made the decision that a particular person or group is to blame we look no further. This is dangerous because we may never know how a situation came about and then have little chance of stopping it from happening in the future. When we are able to explore the true cause of a situation we can make change.When we feel the urge to blame, this slogan asks that we bring that blame inward. This is not in a neurotic "everything is my fault' kind of way. We are simply asked to look at our own part in a situation. Rather than making everything about an external, look at what we have contributed or not contributed to keep this situation in effect. When we are able to see our part and then act from a place of love, we can make positive changes in our world.