Why Buddha thinks we need to save ourselves

Buddha translates into German as "The Enlightened One". This quote is not from Siddharta (the original Buddha). Nevertheless, I believe there is a lot of truth in this statement. After all, it is not for nothing that there are proverbs around the globe such as, "Everyone is the architect of his own fortune."

No one saves us except ourselves. No one can and no one must. We ourselves must go the way.
"Buddha"

In childhood, we have a shield against everything unknown in this world. Our parents. They are the safe haven to which we can always return when we don't know what to do. We can ask them any question and get an answer, we can come to them with any problem and get a solution.

The older we get, however, the more we notice that even our parents are far from knowing everything. This loss in the confidence of our parents' competencies can lead us into a great uncertainty about life. How are we ourselves to understand life so well as to be able to navigate through it as skillfully as possible if not even our parents can.

In addition, we hardly have any responsibility in childhood. Our parents decide what clothes we wear, what school we go to, what we eat, when we have doctor's appointments, when we have to go to bed and much much more. If we are lucky, our parents decide in such interest, which gives us the best possible conditions for the rest of our life. If we are less fortunate, this can Putting stones in the way of life.

Once pinned, never forgotten (:

As we grow older we have to learn to make our own decisions. We have to find our own explanations and most importantly, we have to take responsibility for our actions.

Of course, it would be much easier to blame our failures on others, often justifiably so. However, that doesn't get us anywhere in life, and thinking that you're entitled to help just because you've been wronged is unrealistic. What has happened to you may not be your own fault, but it is your responsibility to make the best of it.

There is a short story to go with it:

An alcoholic who frequently got into trouble with the law had two sons. After committing a major crime, he was sent to prison for a long time.

One son also became an alcoholic, often in conflict with the law. The second son became a businessman, was happily married and had two children.

Both were asked what caused them to become what they were.

Her answer was the same: "What would become of me with such a father?"

Both sons in this story were not to blame for their father being an alcoholic. But only one of the two sons had taken responsibility and changed something about his circumstances.

The fact that this story is about an alcoholic is only exemplary. One could just as easily write about any unhealthy lifestyle that parents can model for a child. Whether it's unhealthy eating habits, a messy life itself, gambling addiction, or much much more. The point is that we are not doomed to repeat the mistakes of others.

The stones that are put in the way of each one of us can either be removed - so that those who follow us on the path do not stumble over them - or we can stumble over them ourselves and get angry at who put those stones there. In the second case, however, we will not get very far on the path of life.

So it's up to us to lead the way. No one but us can or may walk the path, because otherwise it would no longer be ours. We must take responsibility for our decisions and actions. Because no one can save us except ourselves. Some can help us here and there, but We ourselves must go the way.