Buddhism – Who’s Fault?

I have been reading about Buddhism of late and one of the most striking teachings is that you can blame no one else for your mistakes and faults. You after all have put yourself in the position you find yourself in.

This a slippery slope I agree. You may not be the one that pulled the trigger or swung the punch. But who made the choice to be where the incident happened? A child does not have much in the way of choices in their life and so are subject to results based on decisions by parents, teachers and etc. So granted there are times where you have no choice in what is happening.

I use to try and help one of my nephews get a start in life. But every job he held he quit because the boss was stupid, or the boss didn’t like him. At first, I fell for his excuses, but after a while, its like, “Come on man.”

It makes sense in an enlightening scary way. All that I am today is not as a result of the world around me. Rather it is ultimately because of the places I have put myself. 

So how do I fix myself? First, I need to accept that where I am today is no one’s fault but my own. My choices, my decisions, my predicament.

Secondly, if this is all my fault and I realize it, then who can fix it? Me! I am responsible for making new choices that will lead me out of the situations I find myself in that are not pleasing to me.

Roy Richard
May 2023