Leading a Compassionate Life.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama is undoubtedly the world leader in spreading compassion and kindness as well as being motivated by bodhichitta, seeking enlightenment--altruistically--to bring happiness to all beings.
In his book The Compassionate Life, the Dalai Lama explains further his view of compassion:
What is the purpose of life? I believe that our life’s purpose is to be happy. From the moment of birth, every human being wants happiness and does not want suffering.
My main concern is always how to promote an understanding of deeper human value. This deeper human value is compassion, a sense of caring, and commitment. No matter what your religion, and whether you are a believer or a nonbeliever, without them you cannot be happy.
Another thing that is quite clear to me is that the moment you think only of yourself, the focus of your whole reality narrows, and because of this narrow focus, uncomfortable things can appear huge and bring you fear and discomfort and a sense of feeling overwhelmed by misery. The moment you think of others with a sense of caring, however, your view widens. Within that wider perspective, your own problems appear to be of little significance, and this makes a big difference.
As the well-known fifteenth-century master Tsongkhapa points out in his “Great Exposition of the Path to Enlightenment”, “The more the practitioner engages in activities and thoughts that are focused and directed toward the fulfillment of others’ well-being, the fulfillment or realization of his or her own aspiration will come as a byproduct without having to make a separate effort.” Some of you may have actually heard me remark, which I do quite often, that in some sense the bodhisattvas, the compassionate practitioners of the Buddhist path, are “wisely selfish” people, whereas people like us are the “foolishly selfish”. We think of ourselves and disregard others, and the result is that we always remain unhappy and have a miserable time.
It is also very clear that for a bodhisattva to be successful in accomplishing the practice of the six perfections—of generosity, ethical discipline, tolerance, joyous effort, concentration, and wisdom—cooperation with and kindness toward fellow beings are extremely important.
In the Buddhist tradition, compassion and love are seen as two aspects of the same thing; Compassion is the wish for another being to be free from suffering; love is wanting them to have happiness.
Usually when we are concerned about a close friend, we call this compassion, but it too is usually attachment. Even in marriage, the love between husband and wife—particularly at the beginning, when each partner still may not know the other’s deeper character very well—depends more on attachment than genuine love. Marriages that last only a short time do so because they lack compassion; they are produced by emotional attachment based on projection and expectation, and as soon as the projections change, the attachment disappears.
The key to a happier and more successful world is the growth of compassion. We do not need to become religious, nor do we need to believe in a particular ideology. All that is necessary is for each of us to develop our good human qualities.
The process by which mind creates the suffering we live in is described by the Indian master Chandrakirti in his “Guide To The Middle Way” when he states, “An undisciplined state of mind gives rise to delusions that propel an individual into negative action, which then creates the negative environment in which the person lives.
Nagabuddhi, a student of Nagarjuan, states that: “Enlightenment or spiritual freedom is not a gift that someone can give to you, nor is the seed for enlightenment something that is owned by someone else.” The implication here is that the potential for enlightenment exists naturally in all of us. Nagarjuna’s student goes on to ask, “What is nirvana, what is enlightenment, what is spiritual freedom?” He then answers, “True enlightenment is nothing but when the nature of one’s own self is fully realized.” This nature of one’s own self is what Buddhists call the ultimate clear light, or inner radiant nature of the mind. When this is fully actualized, or realized, that is enlightenment, that is true Buddhahood.
If we probe deeper, we find that each and every thing is the result of many causes and conditions. The origination of things and events is dependent upon multiple factors. What is the implication of this reality of interdependence? It is that no thing or event, including one’s own self, possesses an independent or intrinsic reality. This absence of an independent reality is said to be ultimate truth.
When your mind is trained in self-discipline, even if you are surrounded by hostile forces, your peace of mind will hardly be disturbed. On the other hand, if your mind is undisciplined, your mental peace and calm can easily be disrupted by your own negative thoughts and emotions. So I repeat, the real enemy is within, not outside.
the altruistic wish for enlightenment. Bodhisattvas should never generate hatred, but instead, they should counteract it. For this purpose, the practice of patience, or tolerance, is crucial.[/i]