Contemporary Buddhism & the Spirituality of Compassion

1. Contemporary Buddhism & the Spirituality of Compassion Rels 120 25 October 2013

2. Living With Compassion The Fourteenth Dalai Lama • Leader of Tibetan Buddhism • Currently living in exile in Dharamsala, India “What is the purpose of life? … I believe that the purpose of life is to be happy … It is important to discover what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness.” http://www.dalailama.com/messages/compassion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20MnLcOL7Ks Dalai Lama Talks about Compassion, Respect (2:34) rels 120 - appleby

3. Happiness and Suffering • 2 main categories: mental and physical Mental • “the greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion” Physical • Without love – being held, hugged, cuddled – infants fail to thrive Compassion and human affection are essential foundations for human happiness and well-being rels 120 - appleby

4. Promotion of Human Value The deepest human value is compassion • expressed as caring and commitment “Compassion is the wish for another being to be free from suffering; love is wanting them to have happiness.” http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1751 • Compassion and love are the sources of hope, courage, determination and inner strength • Deprivation of compassion and love leads to anxiety and depression rels 120 - appleby

5. Self-Centredness • Compassion which is mixed with attachment and desire is undermined by disappointments or negative qualities • Self-centred compassion is motivated by the needs and desires of oneself, rather than by genuine caring for the other person “Genuine compassion is based not on our own projections and expectations, but rather on the needs of the other” Have you had the experience of someone offering to do something for you or give something to you that you did not need or wish to have? Examples? rels 120 - appleby

6. Universal altruism “Whether people are beautiful or plain, friendly or cruel … they are … just like oneself – they want happiness and do not want suffering.” • All beings want happiness – just like you • All beings have a right to seek and obtain happiness – just like you • All beings are equal – there should be no discrimination among those for whom you feel empathy “The scope of our empathy [should] extend…to any form of life with the capacity to feel pain and experience happiness.” • i.e., to all sentient beings (sentient = able to experience by means of the senses; especially able to experience pain) rels 120 - appleby

7. Health and well-being Buddhism teaches that there are direct links between mental stability and physical well-being • Anxiety, anger, hatred, agitation → physical illness • Immune response can be diminished • Anger can fuel personal energy – but, “the energy of anger is almost always unreliable” – may lead to destruction and damage • Energy that arises from compassion is patient, reasoned and powerful rels 120 - appleby

8. “When you lose your wealth and influence, you will find it very difficult to track these people down.” http://www.dalailama.com/messages/compassion rels 120 - appleby “In today’s materialistic society,if you have money and power,you seem to have many friends.But they are not friends of yours; they are the friends of your money and power.”

9. “Inter-dependence isa fundamental law of nature” • Natural interdependence of all life • Social interdependence among animals and humans • Ecological interdependence among oceans, earth, plants, animals, humans “Buddhism sees things as process in which all features of existence are interdependent and ultimately one.” http://www.shindharmanet.com/writings/healing.htm rels 120 - appleby

10. Unbiased Compassion His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaks about unbiased compassion in this clip from a question and answer session with Thai Buddhists http://dalailama.com/webcasts/post/178-unbiased-compassion [2:37] rels 120 - appleby

11. The Dalai Lama "The destructive effects of hatredare very visible, very obvious and immediate. For example, when a very strong or forceful thought of hatred arises within you, at that very instant, it totally overwhelms you and destroys your peace of mind, your presence of mind disappears completely. “When such intense anger and hatred arises, it obliterates the best part of your brain, which is the ability to judge between right and wrong, and the long term and short term consequences of your actions.” rels 120 - appleby

12. The Importance of a Compassionate Attitude http://dalailama.com/webcasts/post/151-the-importance-of-a-compassionate-attitude [2:07] rels 120 - appleby

13. Karen Armstrong and the Charter for Compassion The TED Prize(TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design) is awarded annually to three exceptional individuals who each receive $100,000 and, much more important, the granting of “One Wish to Change the World.” See Karen’s speech here: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/karen_armstrong_makes_her_ted_prize_wish_the_charter_for_compassion.html(4:17 to 6:30) “Now, pride of place in this practice is given to compassion.” rels 120 - appleby

14. KAREN ARMSTRONG “The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. “Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures . . . treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.” http://community.charterforcompassion.org/commit/details/?id=12900415953097 rels 120 - appleby

15. Compassion Commitment: “I will practice compassion as a way of being, in every moment, in every action. And when I do not accomplish this, I will practice compassion with myself in order to regain my ability to be compassionate to all sentient beings.” http://community.charterforcompassion.org/commit/details/?id=12900415953097 rels 120 - appleby