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Lama Zopa Rinpoche sent this message to a student who was upset and angry after having many negative experiences. Rinpoche explained that practicing Dharma means subduing one’s own mind ⤵️

I’m very, very sorry that you have experienced so much unhappiness and disturbance. Generally in the world it sometimes happens that when someone does even the best thing, for some people that best thing appears to them as negative. It appears negative and they interpret it as negative, and then that is how it appears to them. Because they interpreted it as negative, it appears as negative. Then when someone else does a really bad thing, some people interpret it as positive. They think it is very good. After they interpreted it like that, it appeared that way. It is normal knowledge that whatever appears, it came from one’s own mind. It depends on how one interprets it or how one labels it, whether one puts a positive or negative label on it. Like that, it came from one’s own mind; the appearance is created by one’s own mind.

In the Dhammapada Buddha said, “All phenomena are created by the mind. The mind is principal and goes before.” This means that the mind goes before actions of body, speech, and mind. “For example, if with a good heart one speaks to someone, the result, happiness, arises; for example, like a shadow follows the body.” In the daytime, wherever the body goes, the shadow follows, and, like that, from a virtuous action, the result, happiness, arises.

Then, in the Dhammapada Buddha said, “Phenomena are created by the mind. Mind is principal and goes before. If by carrying a bad heart, one talks to someone, suffering arises; for example, like a cart follows after an ox.” An ox, no matter how cold or hot the weather is, has to pull the heavy cart until it can’t stand up. Like that, all the actions done with a bad motivation become negative, and then the result, suffering, arises.

“That karma should be known. If you ignore the Buddha’s teachings on karma, you are lost. You are not in the truth.” This is not talking about ultimate truth or emptiness, tong pa nyi, but about conventional truth. If you are away from the Buddha’s teachings, the essential teaching on karma, you are not in the truth. Therefore, you really have to pay attention to karma, especially if you think of yourself as a Buddhist. That is very important. It is so important.