Man is Responsible for Everything

When a man has learned how to live as a real human being without disturbing others, he can live peacefully without any fear in his heart.

According to the Buddha, man himself is the maker of his own destiny. He has none to blame for his lot since he alone is responsible for his own life. He makes his own life for better or for worse.

The Buddha says: man creates everything. All our griefs, perils and misfortunes are of our own creation. We spring from no other source than our own imperfection of heart and mind. We are the results of our good and bad actions committed in the past under the influence of greed and delusion. And since we ourselves brought them into being, it is within our power to overcome bad effects and cultivate good natures.

The human mind, like that of an animal, is something governed by animal instinct. But unlike the animal mind, the human mind can be trained for higher values. If man's mind is not properly cultured, that uncultured mind creates a great deal of trouble in this world. Sometimes man's behavior is more harmful and more dangerous than animal behavior. Animals have no religious problems, no language problems, no political problems, no social and ethical problems, no colour-bar problems. They fight only for their food, shelter and sex. But, there are thousand of problems created by mankind. Their behavior is such that they would not be able to solve any of these problems without creating further problems. Man is reluctant to admit his weaknesses. He is not willing to shoulder his responsibilities. His attitude is always to blame others for his failure. If we become more responsible in our actions, we can maintain peace and happiness.