When you think about it, everyone encounters quite a few misfortunes over a lifetime, and most of our aspirations remain unfulfilled. So from a certain perspective the doctrine of karma can be used to explain why things often don’t go the way we want them to; this has become a popular notion, but it’s certainly not the only way of understanding misfortune. In fact, for lots of people it’s a habitual way of thinking, and habits are very hard to change.
~ Khangser Rinpoche ~
