When you take a walk in the Lake Gardens, you can hear the chirping of birds in the lush green surroundings in the hustle and bustle of Kuala Lumpur city. The chirping comes from the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park, a walk-in aviary, home to more than 3000 birds from over 200 local and foreign species. [...]
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BlueSapphire on September 8th, 2008
Just listen to what Tsem Tulku Rinpoche, a high reincarnate lama of Gaden Monastery, foremost Buddhist master of our era has to say about compassion: Compassion Says It All:>
BlueSapphire on September 7th, 2008
Compassion can be cultivated through the mind or consciousness. Mind is at the heart of Buddhist theory and practice, and for the last 2,500 years meditators have been investigating and using it as a means of transcending unsatisfactory existence and achieving sustainable peace. It is said that all happiness, ordinary and sublime, is achieved by understanding and transforming our mind. A non-physical kind of energy, the mind’s function is to know, to experience. It is awareness itself. It is clear in nature and reflects everything that it experiences.
Mind changes from moment to moment. It is a beginningless continuum, like an ever-flowing stream: the previous mind-moment gave rise to this mind-moment, which gives rise to the next mind-moment, and so on. In totality, our conscious and unconscious experiences: each of us is the centre of a world of thoughts, perceptions, feelings, memories and dreams – all of these are mind.
Mind is not physical thing that has thoughts and feelings; it is those very experiences. Being non-matter, it is different from the body, although mind and body are interconnected and interdependent. Mind, consciousness is carried through our body by subtle physical energies which also control our movement and vital functions This relationship explains why, for example, physical sickness and discomfort can affect our state of mind and why, in turn, mental attitudes can both give rise to and heal physical problems.
Mind can be compared to an ocean, and momentary mental events such as happiness, irritation, fantasies and boredom to the waves that rise and fall on its surface. Just as the waves can subside to reveal the stillness of the ocean’s depths, so too is it possible to calm the turbulence of our mind to reveal its natural pristine clarity.
The ability to do this lies within the mind itself and the key to the mind is meditation. Hence, we can achieve stainless compassion and sustainable happiness through meditation.
BlueSapphire on August 26th, 2008
Compassion knows no boundaries, it is wishing everyone to have sustainability in happiness. Everyone wants sustainable happiness yet few of us seem to find it. Everything by nature constantly changes and eventually disappears: our body, friends, belongings, the environment. Our dependence on impermanent things and clinging to the rainbow-like happiness bring only disappointment and grief, not satisfaction and contentment. We do experience happiness with things outside ourselves, but it doesn’t truly satisfy us or free us from our problems. It is poor-quality happiness, unreliable and short-lived. This does not mean that we should give up our friends and possessions in order to be happy. Rather, what we need to give up are our misconceptions about them and our unrealistic expectations of what they can do for us. The root our problem is our fundamentally mistaken view of reality. We see things as having certain qualities abiding naturally within them; that they are, from their own side, good or bad, attractive or unattractive. These qualities seem to be out there, in the objects themselves, quite independent of our viewpoint and everything else. Our mistaken idea is deeply rooted and habitual; it colours all our relationships and lifestyle. We probably rarely question whether or not the way we see things is the way they actually exist, but once we do it will be obvious that our picture of reality is exaggerated and one-sided; that the good and bad qualities we see in things are actually created and projected by our own mind.
However, everyone has the potential to experience sustainable happiness. The causes of sustainable happiness lie within our own mind, and methods for achieving it can be practised by anyone, anywhere, in any lifestyle living in the city, working an 8-hour job, raising a family, playing at weekends. By practicing meditation we can learn to be happy at any time in any situation, even difficult and painful ones. Eventually we can free ourselves of problems like dissatisfaction, anger and anxiety and, finally by realizing the actual things exist, we will eliminate complete source of all disturbing states of mind so that they will never arise again. When one meditates motivated from compassion to eliminate disturbing states of mind to benefit others, it becomes the highest motivation.
BlueSapphire on August 21st, 2008
How to be Happy and Live Longer:
So start now - have compassion and be kind to yourself. Be happy now and ever!
BlueSapphire on August 19th, 2008
How can you live a sensual lifestyle with a distinctive sense of identity? Rekindle and develop our spirituality in compassion.
Compassion comes from realizing others suffer. Our own experiences of suffering are the basis for compassion. We know what it’s like to be sick or in pain, to be lonely or have our feelings hurt by an unkind remark, to fear the unknown or mourn the death of a loved one. When we then see or hear of others experiencing these things, our heart opens with a feeling of empathy and wish to help. This is compassion, this is our spiritual nature.
We need to differentiate true compassion and “idiot compassion”. We sometimes over-react emotionally at the sight of suffering. We can be so distressed that we weep uncontrollably, faint or turn away in horror. Our heart may be moved with pity but our emotions are so out-of-control that we can’t do anything to help. In other cases we might do something but because we lack understanding of the problem or the person experiencing it, our “help” only makes the situation worse. These are examples of idiot compassion. True compassion balances loving-concern with clear wisdom. This wisdom enables us to stay calm and think clearly how best to help, without carried away with our emotions. For example, if someone in our family becomes ill or has an accident, we need to act swiftly and objectively to relieve that person’s suffering and not get caught up by our own fears, anxiety and distress.
When it comes to helping someone who is suffering mentally, even greater wisdom and skill are required. Let’s say a friend comes over to see us, upset because his girlfriend has just rejected him. With compassion we listen to his outpour of grief and anger, sympathize with what he’s doing through and offer kind words to console him. But it would not be right to think that we must solve his problem for him, or to become as depressed and angry as he is. Instead, we should use our wisdom and skilful means to help him come to terms with his problem. For example, we can explain to him that it’s not helpful to be angry and revengeful, but that these attitudes will only increase his suffering. He can try to work things out with his girlfriend, but if it looks like the break is irreparable, it’s best for him to accept what has happened, forgive and forget, and get on with his life. Throughout our talk together we should try to remain clam, show our concern by listening attentively, avoid preaching or giving unwanted advice, and think clearly how best to help him work out his own solution to the problem. If we can balance compassion with wisdom in this way, he will feel better and we will be able to walk away without carrying his problem on our shoulders.
It is easier for compassion to arise towards some than towards others, but this is only because we have a limited idea of how beings suffer. For example, it is natural for compassion to arise when we see a beggar or a disabled person but when we see a well-dressed lay driving a Mercedes, we are more likely to feel envy than compassion. This is because we don’t realize that she also has suffering. Physically, she has a body that experiences hunger, thirst, heat, cold and tiredness; that gets sick, ages and will one day die. Mentally, she probably has more suffering than a poor person. She must worry about how to maintain her money, position and glamorous image. She may also have problems with her husband or boyfriend, with parents, or other family members. She may have a bad-tempered boss, uncooperative employees and jealous rivals trying to harm her. Is it wise to envy such a person? Compassion wishes every being to be free not only from suffering but from its causes as well. Everyone else – even the wealthiest people, has problems and therefore deserves our compassion.
How can we have compassion towards someone who harms us or our loved ones? Compassion involves understanding the situation of others. It asks us to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes. “What is he thinking? How does he feel? What makes him behave like this?” If we do this with an open heart, we’ll realize that the other person is not happy, that he is not in control of his own mind but rather that he is under the control of his own delusions, which only cause him suffering. This will help us to understand that it is more appropriate to respond with clam patience than with anger and the wish to retaliate.
Being compassionate doesn’t mean we have to be passive weak and say “yes” every time we are asked to give or do something. It’s alright to say “no” if we feel that the request is unreasonable, if we feel we are incapable of fulfilling it, or if the person is simply trying to use us for her own selfish ends. It’s also OK to speak up or take action against harm done to ourselves or others, provided we do so with compassion, not anger and aggression.
If we think that an attitude of compassion and non-retaliation is a sign of weakness, some of the famous and great spiritual figures of the past have shown us by their own sample that this is not so. For example, Shakyamuni Buddha overcame the negative forces that tried to disturb him on the eve of his enlightenment with the power of his loving-kindness. Jesus Christ compassionately forgave the men who tortured and killed him. Mahatma Gandhi and his followers won India’s independence through non-violent activities, even at the risk of death or imprisonment. In this way, they showed us that meeting harm and injustice with compassionate non-violence is far more noble and courageous than fighting back. Compassion has always been part of us. Rekindling and developing compassion in our lifestyle bring spirituality to a higher level, to sustainability in happiness for oneself and others.
TSEM TULKU RINPOCHE
“Ido not have many goals and passions but I REALLY want to bring Dharma to people because I really believe in it. I really trust BuddhaDharma from my innermost depths of my being. I want to share with others and relieve their sufferings very much. It hurts me and affects me deeply to see others suffer and I want to do something about it!”
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