"Compassion is the finest weapon and best defence.If you would establish harmony,Compassion must surround you like a fortress." (The Tao Te Ching v.68)
I recently watched the web casts of the Seeds of Compassion conference that was held in Washington State with special guest the Dalai Llama. (www.seedsofcompassion.org) The focus was on raising compassionate children and there was debate as to whether compassion was innate or learned. I am usually of the opinion that most emotions and behaviors are a combination of the nature/nurture theories.
I have never given much thought as to whether we are born compassionate, but I certainly believe that children 'learn' to be cruel. We have all suffered from being teased or bullied in the schoolyard, and most adults accept this as just "typical kids behaviors" and therefore rarely do anything to either protect their child, or teach them how to handle these situations without becoming too stressed out, or validate the child's hurt feelings. We tell them to ignore or "get over it".
In spite of horrendous incidents such as the Columbine shootings, we still fail to make nurturing compassion in our children a priority. So huge "kudos" to the Governor of Washington State for realizing the importance of this issue and hosting such an in-depth conference by bringing some of the greatest minds in the field of child development and psychology together for discussion.
The Dalai Llama, in his keynote address, stated that we needed more women in governing roles (no argument here) because women were more likely to find solutions through talking than fighting, and would be much less willing to send their children to war.
I have spent years dealing with my own pent-up rage that resulted from a compassion-less childhood. Today I am a supremely compassionate person working in a field of caring professionals, but finding the system within which I work one that does not care. Huge cutbacks in funding by the California State Governor have meant that the poorest of the poor will once again be denied the help and support that they need to become functioning members of society. Apparently there is no value in that to the State.
I have a neighbor who has friends in the professional baseball field and he tells me that young talents are often paid sign-up bonuses of $4 million. This must be what we value in our society. Please don't misunderstand me, I enjoy a good game of baseball but there has to be a balance in this world.
Compassion must begin at home - yes - with the children that we are raising if we want things to change for the better in the future, but in making such cutbacks to the already dis-enfranchised will engender despair and rage such as I felt as a child in a compassion-less home. From personal experience I can truly state that this a recipe for disaster.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Poverty Consciousness
Tao Te Ching Verse 19:
“Bind your self-interest and control your ambition;Forget your habits and simplify your affairs.”
My partner and I have reached a stage in our lives where we have finally realized that that we need to unload material “stuff”. We have a room in the house that we call “the dungeon” because everything gets dumped in there. Every time I have considered doing something about it I take one look, get completely overwhelmed and close the door.
Then a friend said, how about just committing to getting rid of just two items per week? It doesn’t matter how long it takes because it will get cleared out eventually, whereas now all movement is stagnant. So, this is what we have been doing, and finding that in fact, we often remove more than two items. We have two other commitments – not to add anything new into the dungeon and if we purchase some new item, we must get rid of something we already have. That way we don’t start acquiring more “stuff”.
Deepak Chopra tells us, “Attachment (to things) comes from poverty consciousness, because attachment is always to symbols.”* In other words if we need things to make us feel good, we might have the big house, the sports car, the private jet, but we will spend all of our energy trying to hold on to these things at the expense of ourselves.
Poverty consciousness is not directly related to the amount of money you have. Rather, it's the relationship to that money or to material possessions. You can live in conditions of poverty without necessarily living in poverty consciousness, which is a state of mind and heart. The, “I don’t have syndrome” is a primary cause of poverty consciousness. Every time we think, feel, act or say we don’t have enough we reinforce in our consciousness that untruth about ourselves.
I call the constant acquiring of more “stuff”, feeding the hole in your soul. It doesn’t matter what you throw in there – houses, cars, money, drugs, sex – none of it will ever be enough. Like an addictive drug we develop a tolerance for possessions and therefore have to have more and more to gain some form of “feeling good”. Until we seek happiness within, we will be miserable.
I’m facing surgery next week – nothing major, but there are always concerns. I feel amazingly calm and I truly believe that this is because I am cultivating a relationship with the Universe instead of one focused entirely on me. I have been meditating daily, working on just trying to still my mind, what I have learned is that the ‘not’ stilling of one’s mind is not a failure, but the daily practice of it is a success. Not having “stuff” is not poverty, realizing that I have everything I need for peace and contentment already within me, is riches indeed.
*(The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success)
“Bind your self-interest and control your ambition;Forget your habits and simplify your affairs.”
My partner and I have reached a stage in our lives where we have finally realized that that we need to unload material “stuff”. We have a room in the house that we call “the dungeon” because everything gets dumped in there. Every time I have considered doing something about it I take one look, get completely overwhelmed and close the door.
Then a friend said, how about just committing to getting rid of just two items per week? It doesn’t matter how long it takes because it will get cleared out eventually, whereas now all movement is stagnant. So, this is what we have been doing, and finding that in fact, we often remove more than two items. We have two other commitments – not to add anything new into the dungeon and if we purchase some new item, we must get rid of something we already have. That way we don’t start acquiring more “stuff”.
Deepak Chopra tells us, “Attachment (to things) comes from poverty consciousness, because attachment is always to symbols.”* In other words if we need things to make us feel good, we might have the big house, the sports car, the private jet, but we will spend all of our energy trying to hold on to these things at the expense of ourselves.
Poverty consciousness is not directly related to the amount of money you have. Rather, it's the relationship to that money or to material possessions. You can live in conditions of poverty without necessarily living in poverty consciousness, which is a state of mind and heart. The, “I don’t have syndrome” is a primary cause of poverty consciousness. Every time we think, feel, act or say we don’t have enough we reinforce in our consciousness that untruth about ourselves.
I call the constant acquiring of more “stuff”, feeding the hole in your soul. It doesn’t matter what you throw in there – houses, cars, money, drugs, sex – none of it will ever be enough. Like an addictive drug we develop a tolerance for possessions and therefore have to have more and more to gain some form of “feeling good”. Until we seek happiness within, we will be miserable.
I’m facing surgery next week – nothing major, but there are always concerns. I feel amazingly calm and I truly believe that this is because I am cultivating a relationship with the Universe instead of one focused entirely on me. I have been meditating daily, working on just trying to still my mind, what I have learned is that the ‘not’ stilling of one’s mind is not a failure, but the daily practice of it is a success. Not having “stuff” is not poverty, realizing that I have everything I need for peace and contentment already within me, is riches indeed.
*(The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success)
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Wellness
Of all the things that we take for granted I think one of the "biggies" is our health, until that is, a problem arises. Such has been my lot this past two weeks. I degenerated quickly from my usual energy level to feeling like I was walking on legs of jello, barely able to stay awake and unable to think clearly. On Monday I was at the doctor getting blood tests, on Thursday I was back at the Doctor and more tests, a phone call brought me in on Friday for more blood tests and then a phone call Friday lunchtime sent me to the hospital for yet more blood tests all culminating in a transfusion of 2 units of blood on Saturday morning. By Saturday afternoon I felt like my "old" self and was told I had some color back in my face. The next few weeks bring more doctor visits all of which will probably culminate in surgery to correct the origins of the problem.
I have listened to people's stories of recovering from cancer and other serious debilitating illnesses, and I have always been thankful that nothing major has affected me in my 50+ years in this Universe. The Buddhist phillosophy puts much emphasis on being in touch with our physical selves as well as our spritual self. In the Tibetan medical tradition, the concept of well-being takes into account the full dynamics of mind, body and spirit to achieve an effective and comprehensive healing strategy. It is immersed in Buddhist tradition, which differs from non-Buddhist medicine in that it utilizes three types of therapeutic intervention: medicinal entities, the power of mantra (a creative, repetitive sound) and the power of meditative stabilization.
In doing so, the Tibetan healing traditions transport us into a strange world of interconnectedness between macrocosmic principles and their microcosmic manifestations; harmony and balance between the cosmic macrocosm and the human microcosm is believed to be essential for health and well-being. This is true not only in the sense that balance is required for health, but also in the somewhat deeper sense that such balance is the essence of health; balance among the physical, psychological and spiritual elements of human existence is health.
Furthermore, the Tibetan Buddhist believes that karma(simply stated, the law of cause and effect) from one's previous incarnations can also be responsible for our illnesses in our present experience. Sakyamuni, the historical Buddha, explained this principle when he said:
In sooth to every man that's born
A hatchet grows within his mouth,
Wherewith the fool, whene'er he speaks
And speaks amiss, doth cut himself . . . (quoted from Samyutta-nikaya in Birnbaum, p.9*)
Our emotional energies are neither good nor bad in themselves; for example, the energy/intelligence that turns to hatred when siezed in the neurotic grip of ego can also manifest as simple, clear awareness of the true situation--thus it is how we relate to our emotional energies that is crucial to well-ness. Understanding one's emotions is an essential part of the Buddhist journey to full awakening and freedom form unwanted conditions of all sorts. However, since most of us have very little ability to work with our emotional energies without creating negative experiences, medicines and other remedies are required.
The mind is considered the origin of all illness and spiritual afflictions. Consequently, much of the healing that the Medicine Buddha promises lies within the mind. The significance of the Medicine Buddha as the Supreme Healer in Tibetan medicine for liberating the individual from suffering is an exemplary metaphor for the mystical elements which are universally inherent in the healing tradition. The tradition is truly a holistic approach to the problem of suffering, both individual suffering and suffering as a universal condition.
(With thanks to: The Art of Healing: A Tibetan Buddhist Perspective on www.dharma-haven.org)
*(Birnbaum, Raoul. The Healing Buddha. Boulder: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1979).
I have listened to people's stories of recovering from cancer and other serious debilitating illnesses, and I have always been thankful that nothing major has affected me in my 50+ years in this Universe. The Buddhist phillosophy puts much emphasis on being in touch with our physical selves as well as our spritual self. In the Tibetan medical tradition, the concept of well-being takes into account the full dynamics of mind, body and spirit to achieve an effective and comprehensive healing strategy. It is immersed in Buddhist tradition, which differs from non-Buddhist medicine in that it utilizes three types of therapeutic intervention: medicinal entities, the power of mantra (a creative, repetitive sound) and the power of meditative stabilization.
In doing so, the Tibetan healing traditions transport us into a strange world of interconnectedness between macrocosmic principles and their microcosmic manifestations; harmony and balance between the cosmic macrocosm and the human microcosm is believed to be essential for health and well-being. This is true not only in the sense that balance is required for health, but also in the somewhat deeper sense that such balance is the essence of health; balance among the physical, psychological and spiritual elements of human existence is health.
Furthermore, the Tibetan Buddhist believes that karma(simply stated, the law of cause and effect) from one's previous incarnations can also be responsible for our illnesses in our present experience. Sakyamuni, the historical Buddha, explained this principle when he said:
In sooth to every man that's born
A hatchet grows within his mouth,
Wherewith the fool, whene'er he speaks
And speaks amiss, doth cut himself . . . (quoted from Samyutta-nikaya in Birnbaum, p.9*)
Our emotional energies are neither good nor bad in themselves; for example, the energy/intelligence that turns to hatred when siezed in the neurotic grip of ego can also manifest as simple, clear awareness of the true situation--thus it is how we relate to our emotional energies that is crucial to well-ness. Understanding one's emotions is an essential part of the Buddhist journey to full awakening and freedom form unwanted conditions of all sorts. However, since most of us have very little ability to work with our emotional energies without creating negative experiences, medicines and other remedies are required.
The mind is considered the origin of all illness and spiritual afflictions. Consequently, much of the healing that the Medicine Buddha promises lies within the mind. The significance of the Medicine Buddha as the Supreme Healer in Tibetan medicine for liberating the individual from suffering is an exemplary metaphor for the mystical elements which are universally inherent in the healing tradition. The tradition is truly a holistic approach to the problem of suffering, both individual suffering and suffering as a universal condition.
(With thanks to: The Art of Healing: A Tibetan Buddhist Perspective on www.dharma-haven.org)
*(Birnbaum, Raoul. The Healing Buddha. Boulder: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1979).
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