Q. I am very frustrated that my son is addicted to alcohol and drugs. Shall I turn a blind eye to his bad actions while thinking of them as empty?
A. To see your suffering as empty is wisdom, and to see others’ suffering as yours is compassion. You should be able to see your son’s problem as yours and at the same time, see your suffering caused by him as empty.
It is very easy and natural that you, as a parent, look upon his problem as yours. However, seeing your suffering as empty is not easy. Especially when he doesn’t follow but rather resists and defies your advice given with love and patience, and gets worse and worse, you are very likely to lose your head and even feel frustrated like you do now.
Remember that seeing such challenges as empty is wisdom. You should not let your life be spoiled by your son’s life. If your life is swayed and spoiled by his life, you are not leading your life but led by it because you don’t know that everything is empty. Only when you can see the challenges as empty can you be happy and continuously remain as a firm pillar for him to depend upon.
©Boo Ahm
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