Tragedy and injustice are not such a big issue. The important issue is do you want to keep on coming back to this sort of thing? That's an area where you really have a choice.

"Most of the issues that seem so big when you take the view of just one lifetime become very small when you think about eons and eons of lifetimes.

Think about the Buddha as he finally got to the town of Kusinara, where he was going to pass away for his last time and go into total nibbana. Ven. Ananda was upset because it was just a little tiny town — he called it a little daub and wattle town, which means basically that the houses were made of nothing but bamboo and mud. It’d be better for the Buddha to go to a great city for his unbinding. There the people would give him a proper send-off.

The Buddha said, “No. This little town here used to be a great city as well.” Then he went into a long description of how great it was. In fact, there’s another sutta that goes into an even longer description of how great it was. He happened to be king that time. And in the story, there comes a point where he’s about to die. His wife, the queen, comes to him with tears on her face. She says, “Please, try to live, try to live.” He said, “If you really loved me, then you wouldn’t say that.” So she said, “If I really loved you, then what should I say?” He said “All fabrications are inconstant. They should be let go.” And so, with tears running down her cheeks, that’s what she tells him. The king lets go and dies.

The fact that the Buddha was coming back to what was now just a little tiny town underlined the fact that all that greatness was destined to fall away, fall away. The best course of action is to figure out: How do I get out?

So, when you find that your thoughts are taking over, when you find them especially interesting or especially gripping, use this perspective as a solvent to make you see that the tragedy, the injustice, whatever, is not such a big issue. There are other more important issues. Do you want to keep on coming back to this sort of thing? Because that’s an area where you really have a choice.

You suffer sometimes from your past bad karma. You want to ask yourself how much longer you want to be open to the possibility that there’s more bad karma, or of coming back and forgetting about the Dhamma and doing stupid things all over again. We’ve done that who knows how many times. We learn some Dhamma and then we forget. Then we learn it again, forget it again. They say that in some universes, there never is a Buddha. Think how long a period of time that is: a whole universe, with no Buddha to teach the Dhamma. It’s a pretty risky business, coming back.

So it’s good that you adopt this perspective of deep, deep, deep time. It's a shame that so many modern Dhamma teachers are abandoning it, because without this perspective, it’s very hard to let go of your thoughts, your ideas of right and wrong, what’s important, what’s tragic, what injustices need to be taken care of before you’re willing to rest. With the Buddha’s perspective, though, you realize the best course of action is to get out.

This is why the Buddha’s course of action was so compassionate: to show us that there is a way out. Otherwise, you stay on in this cycle back and forth, back and forth. X does something to Y, Y does something back to X, and pulls in Z. Everybody gangs up on everyone else. Over what? Things that just slip away, slip away. You have to remember: This is not a world to live in. This is a world to pass through on your way out. That’s the best use of your mental energies, the best use of your time."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Deep Time"