Everybody is trying to straighten everyone else out. But the Buddha’s realization is that we have to straighten ourselves out. There’s no way you can force anybody else to practice. You can’t force other people to be skillful.
"I was reading recently someone saying that Buddhism is going to have to change, that nibbana is no longer good enough for us, it no longer meets our needs. We need a more compassionate teaching that straightens out the world first before we all go off to nibbana.
Well, one of the problems of the world, of course, is that everybody is trying to straighten everyone else out. But the Buddha’s realization is that we have to straighten ourselves out. Again, this is where that issue of skill and lack of skill comes in. There’s no way you can force anybody else to practice. You can’t force other people to be skillful."
~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Good Fundamentals"
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