Recently, I have come upon two sets of questions from the 8th Century Indian Buddhist monk known as Shantideva.

Mainly in addressing worrying Shantideva asks:

“If the problem can be solved why worry? If the problem cannot be solved worrying will do you no good.”

A slightly different version of the question set is found on page 223 in The Book of Joy by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams.

“Why be unhappy about something if it can be remedied? And what is the use of being unhappy if it cannot be remedied?”

How important is Shantideva’s question set? According to the Book of Joy, again on page 223, “In this short teaching is the profound essence of the Dalai Lama’s approach to life.”

A modern version of this question set for me would be something like this.

If you can fix the situation, why worry about it? If you cannot fix the situation, why worry about it?

This is good practical advice that everyone can benefit from. Interesting to learn that this reasoning is integral to how the Dalai Lama lives.