Hello everyone,
How does one become successful and achieve all their goals in life?
I want to be a world leader and solve global issues. I also want to make sure most, if not, all monks observe all vinaya rules.
I want to guide and unite the world through Dhamma.
I want to be a wise, virtuous, and knowledgeable world leader who doesn’t kill, lie, insults people or wage wars.
When I read you, I see my past. I think what you are experiencing is excitement due to the newly found Dhamma and practice, due to newly found ideas. Soon I realized it’s delusion. There are very few limitations to what we can do. Our Bodhisatta spent eons and eons cultivating all paramis. And the result of that is he was born in good conditions, but if we see his true intentions, it’s like only 50 years he taught the Dhamma. That is very small in comparison to what he spent in cultivation for these specific conditions. It’s not like you’re born in every life and change the world order. Before this excitement makes you agitated, calm yourself and wish for peace. In one sutta, the Buddha said, “Don’t try to conquer the world if you have a limited army.” Once you win yourself, you will find all answers to help others.
1 Like
You don’t necessarily need to be the leader. If you aspire to participate in a government or any other collective initiative that solves global issues, make sure most monks observe all Vinaya rules, guiding and uniting the world through the Dhamma—that would be a good enough aspiration. If you have sufficient merit, you might become the leader of the entire endeavor. If not, you will still play an important role.
Even without being a global leader, you can be wise, virtuous, and knowledgeable, refraining from killing, lying, insulting others, or waging wars.
But if you insist on being the leader of such a movement, there’s no other way than accumulating merit. If your stock of merit is vast, your aspiration could be fulfilled in a short time. However, it’s far more likely that you’ll need many lifetimes to achieve this goal.
https://suttacentral.net/iti22/en/sujato
[Because of good deeds] I was the Divinity, the Great Divinity, the vanquisher, the unvanquished, the universal seer, the wielder of power. I was Sakka, lord of gods, thirty-six times. Many hundreds of times I was a king, a wheel-turning monarch, a just and principled king. My dominion extended to all four sides, I achieved stability in the country, and I possessed the seven treasures. Not to mention regional kingship!
Then I thought, ‘Of what deed of mine is this the fruit and result, that I am now so mighty and powerful?’ Then I thought, ‘It is the fruit and result of three kinds of deeds: giving, self-control, and restraint.’”
1 Like
You are right, my friend. Merit is really important. Something I realized is that wisdom/knowledge is also important. People like to be led by those who are wise and knowledgeable.