Life throws up lots of difficulties. Often our ability to cope with them comes from the perspective we take. According to Buddhist teaching, the Budda Sakyamuni had previously existed in the time of King Kalinga. Unfortunately he met with a terrible fate – his body was carved into pieces by the king. In the Diamond Sutra, Sakyamuni says to a disciple: "Thousands of lifetimes ago when my body was cut into pieces by King Kalinga, I was not caught in the idea of a separate self or life span. If, at that time, I had been caught up in any such idea, I would have felt anger and ill-will against the king."
Now Christians certainly don’t embrace the Buddhist view of reality. We have a different world view. But perhaps we can learn from this story that how we view the world does in fact affect how well we cope with what happens to us.
Source: Scott Higgins
Applications: perspective, coping, problems, difficulties, anger