The Power of Compassion

By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Selangor, Malaysia (Archive #1552)

A seminar on how to develop compassion and offer perfect service to others, given by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kasih Hospice, Selangor, Malaysia, on May 14, 2006. Edited by Sandra Smith.

Click on the chapter links to read the edited transcripts. You can listen to the audio recording for Chapter 2 or view this part of the talk on our YouTube channel, in a series of four videos commencing with The Best Attitude for Work.

How to Develop Compassion
THE BEST ATTITUDE FOR WORK

Whether we’re doing work running a company or working for our family, doing business for ourselves or doing work for others, when the attitude of the whole life is a selfish mind, of course, we encounter so many problems. We find so many problems in the life because our ego makes problems. This is because the motivation is the self-cherishing thought—so strongly, so strongly cherishing I, more cherishing I.

We think, “My happiness is more important than anybody in the world, among the numberless holy beings or enlightened beings, the numberless saints and numberless ordinary beings. Among the numberless beings I am the most important and my happiness is the most important. My need is more important than anyone else.”

The stronger the selfish mind is, the more desire we have. The desire for our own happiness is much stronger and the dissatisfaction is much stronger.

When some very small matter, something very small, doesn’t happen in exactly the way attachment wants or when exactly what the selfish mind wants doesn’t happen—such small things, even the way of decorating or the way of putting some color or something—anyway, even if a small thing doesn’t happen exactly how our self-cherishing thought wants; if it doesn’t happen exactly as our attachment wants, even just small things become huge. The selfish mind or the desire is exaggerated. It becomes a huge problem and the anger arises easier and stronger. It’s all connected and the root is the self-cherishing thought, the selfish mind.

Of course, in the life there will be many things that don’t happen exactly how the selfish mind or the desire wants. And according to desire, we always want more and better [things.] There’s no end for that. We always want more and better things.

There’s no end to the problems, because there’s always dissatisfaction. The problems, the unhappiness, the dissatisfied mind has no end. Living with the selfish mind in this way, the suffering has no end. We find so many problems in the life, the mind just makes them up.

Basically, until we label “problem,” until our mind labels problem, there’s no appearance of a problem. When our mind doesn’t label problem, we don’t see that there’s a [problem.] There’s no appearance of a problem, that this is a problem to us. We don’t see any problem.

We don’t see that this is a problem until the moment when our mind interprets it [as a problem.] For example, if somebody has a change of mind or a change of conduct, if his way of behaving, his way of speaking, or way of thinking about us changes to something different; if the way he walks in front of us or the way he looks at us changes; if he is looking up, keeping the nose up in the sky; anyway, if something changes in the person’s behavior toward us—until we label “problem” we don’t see a problem in our life. After our mind labels problem and believes in that—the belief follows the label—then there’s the appearance of a problem and we see that this is problem. That’s the evolution.

This is one explanation of how the problems are coming from our mind. This is not the only explanation, but it is one explanation. How in that moment in our life—day-to-day, hour-to-hour, minute-to-minute—the problems come from our concept, our mind.  So that’s one explanation.

How happiness comes from our mind, how problems and happiness come from our mind—that day, that hour, that minute, that moment—happiness or suffering comes from that hour, that day, that hour, that minute. [It comes from] our mind, our way of thinking, what label we put, which way we interpret, which labels we put on things.

That is not only Buddhist philosophy, but it is also our life experience. It’s not just only Buddhist philosophy, but it’s our life experience. This is how it is. This is how we live our life. We create our problems and happiness.

If we’re able to keep our mind positive, then in each twenty-four hours we have more happiness in our life. If we keep our mind in a more negative way and if we let our mind be habituated that way; if we interpret most of our life as negative, then most of our life—even twenty-four hours—is unhappiness.

After our mind labels the problem along with the belief, then the problem appears. We see the problem, then we have that unpleasant feeling. Form, sound, smell, taste, tangible objects, the six sense objects or the five sense objects, it depends on how we interpret them. If the mind labels “bad” then the object appears bad, we see it as bad. When our senses have contact and we see the object as bad—whether it’s form, sound, smell, taste, whichever it is—then we have an unpleasant feeling. Then it disturbs the mind. It’s like that.

There’s no happiness. It becomes a circle.

How to Maintain a Harmonious Workplace

Many problems arise when our motivation is the selfish mind, concentrated in our heart. The main achievement is our own happiness, not others. When we do that, then there’s carelessness to others, no concern to others. Then those other people who are doing work for us become dissatisfied, they become unhappy. They don’t get treated well, they don’t get respect, then they become unhappy and they leave, or they create trouble for us. The other workers in the company or business create problems, they give harm to us, so things like that.

Because of our selfish mind, then our actions are unkind and others become unhappy. Then we get problems, trouble. This effect is the consequence of the selfish mind. We receive the problem, but it is originally coming from our selfish mind. It becomes a circle, like that.

Like this, the problem increases more and more. Then after some time there are court cases and people are suing each other, then you lose all the money and all these things. There are debts and all this, then the problems get built up in the life, like that. So that’s one explanation.

Even if you become a millionaire or a billionaire, because of the selfish mind, the strong desire wanting more, better things—you want more, you want to be more rich than other wealthy people in the world— there is no ending. You engage in illegal things and many other things, then after some time, other people find out. Then all the people in the company use that to sue you. They become unhappy and sue you back. Your life ends up with a bad reputation in the world, in the newspaper, on TV. Even after you become a millionaire or a billionaire, you end up with a bad reputation and end up with life in prison.

All these are shortcomings of the ego. This is a reality of any religion, it doesn’t matter whichever religion it is. This is reality. Everybody can understand that.

So now the other part. First I just introduced this one and now the second thing.

How to Stabilize a Good Heart

We start with the good heart to serve others. We start with compassion for others. Starting the meditation center is the same—[we want] to help others, whether it’s a hospice or whether it’s a meditation center, whatever. It came out of the good heart, wanting to help others. Okay?

At the beginning, we start with compassion, we start with the good heart.  Of course, as we start the work, there are so many activities, whether it’s a meditation center or whatever. Besides that, any other service to others, there are many activities, it’s very involved. What happens if we don’t get to meditate every day, if we don’t keep our attitude in the positive, like it was in the beginning when we started the meditation center, the hospice or whatever service; if we don’t meditate every day, in other words recharge our positive, good motivation, our compassion.

Since we don’t have stable realization of compassion, it’s just a simple good heart. There’s no realization, therefore it’s not stable. Therefore, if we face a little bit of difficulty, some hardship, that compassion’s gone, that small good heart is gone, the little that we have is gone. It’s like that. It’s not stable because we don’t have the actual realization. Those who have it, no question. Those of us who don’t have the actual realization of compassion, it’s not stable.

We are unable to continue our energetic compassion and the busy work, busy life is unable to continue together [with compassion.] If we don’t meditate every day, then we’re unable to keep the mind energized in compassion.

There are so many activities to do, very involved, but the mind is weak, having these other emotional thoughts. The compassion’s very weak, unstable, so then all the negative emotional thoughts arise. The selfish mind, anger, the jealous mind and this and that, all this rises up. So then there’s ego clash, personality clash.

Actually there’s no problem there. There’s no problem in the work but it’s just the problem of concept, problem of ego, problem of concept. Then it becomes huge suffering there, huge suffering, in the company or at the center or whatever, in the working place.  

How to Develop Compassion for All Beings

It’s just to do with the mind, which we can’t see, which is not substantial, we can’t see it. It’s formless, but it’s so hard. It’s harder than the Rocky Mountains, harder than Mount Everest. Anyway, it’s harder than iron mountains, so difficult to change, to become peaceful, happy. In reality, there’s no real problem, but it’s just the concept of problem, the [view of] the too-selfish mind.

It’s just a problem in the view of the mind, the view of the self-cherishing thought. In the view of the self-cherishing thought, there’s a problem, but in the view of compassion, bodhicitta, there’s no problem. In the view of the wisdom realizing emptiness, the ultimate wisdom, there’s no problem, because nothing exists from its own side.

One thing that is very important, it’s very important to do meditation developing compassion here. Probably, the question of how to develop compassion might arise after this. However, that is a big subject. There can be a simple answer, but it’s a very vast subject because suffering is not just pain—cold or hot, hunger or thirst, sicknesses—it’s not just that. There are different types of sufferings.

To develop compassion for all living beings, the different types of living beings, we need to know all their sufferings. We need to know [the sufferings of] all those different sentient beings in samsara. In cyclic existence, there are hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, and then devas, suras and asuras who have much more, a hundred thousand times much greater enjoyment than human beings. They live a much, much, longer life, and they have a hundred thousand times much greater enjoyment than human beings.

For those worldly gods, even one jewel ornament or ring or something—if all the human wealth were put together and we compared it to that—all the human wealth is nothing compared with the value of one ornament, a ring or something like that.

Those beings have so much suffering, therefore we need compassion for them. We need compassion not only for poor people. We also need compassion for all the rich people, the wealthy people, who have so many problems in their lives, whose lives are filled with so many problems which they didn’t have before. After they become wealthy, then so many problem arose from that.

We need compassion for all the beings who are suffering, therefore we need to know all their [suffering], like this. Not only compassion for human beings, rich and poor, all those, but also for the worldly gods, those devas who have so much suffering. Their life is filled with distraction, incredible, incredible sense pleasures and enjoyments, so their life is totally distracted. That is extremely difficult.

For example, when Guru Shakyamuni Buddha was in India, there were two heart disciples, two arhats. One is called Sharipu, the other one is called Maudgalyayana. Sharipu, who is excellent in the wisdom among the disciples, is an arhat, so he has incredible psychic power.

One of Sharipu’s disciples was born in the deva realm, the Thirty-three realm.1 With his psychic power, Sharipu went to the Thirty-three realm to reveal Dharma. Usually this disciple, whenever he saw his guru, Sharipu, he would immediately come down from his horse. If he was riding a horse, he would immediately come down.

But that time, when he was born in the deva realm, life had completely so much sense pleasure, a hundred thousand times more than a very rich human country, than in the human world. When he saw his guru Sharipu from afar, because he was completely distracted with all the sense pleasures, he just raised up his hand. He didn’t come down from the horse, he didn’t come down. He just raised his hand, then he went away. Anyway, it’s just an example of how it is so difficult to practice Dharma or to meditate when completely filled with, absorbed in the distractions, all these sense pleasures.

In the deva realm, there’s a form realm and a formless realm. The form realm beings have developed inner peace, bliss, through meditation. They have total detachment, renunciation to our pleasure, to desire realm pleasure, sense pleasure—form, sound, smell, taste, tangible [objects]. They have total renunciation and they see this as totally suffering, totally disgusting. They have bliss derived from meditation. Even the form realm is in the nature of suffering.

After that, there is the formless realm, the highest realm in cyclic existence, samsara. That is also in the nature of suffering. They don’t have the suffering of hunger, thirst, hot and cold. Formless realm [beings], especially, don’t have form; they don’t have a physical [body], only just mind.

But they’re still not free from delusion and karma. They’re not free from the cause of delusion, the cause of anger, ignorance, attachment, the wrong concept holding the I, the aggregates of body and mind, as inherently existent while they’re not, while they’re totally empty of inherent existence.

They’re not free from this root of all the suffering, the root of all the delusion. They’re not free from this ignorance and the seed of the imprint of this ignorance. They’re not free. So this is how they’re suffering. The aggregates of their mind are contaminated like this, and that is how they suffer, the nature of suffering.

In order to develop compassion for all these living beings, we need to understand all the sufferings of  all these different beings in samsara, their different types of sufferings, okay? So we have to meditate that it is all in the nature of suffering. Then we can develop compassion for every living being. Otherwise our compassion is very limited.

Our compassion is limited if it’s only for poor people, only for sick people, only for human beings who are dying. Therefore we need to learn the different types of sufferings. We need to meditate on that and then we feel it is unbearable for ourselves to experience those sufferings. When that happens to us, then we feel compassion for others.

For example, when we have AIDS, then we will feel compassion for other people who have AIDS. We feel that is so unbearable. People who have AIDS, they feel it is so unbearable that other people have AIDS. That’s because they have AIDS and they don’t want to experience that, they know about the life with AIDS.

That’s why in the stages of the path, first we have to have the realization, renunciation of samsara. Then we see the unbearable suffering of others. Then there, compassion arises. After that, great compassion, feeling how unbearable other sentient beings’ suffering is, and taking responsibility on ourselves, that we want to free them from all the suffering. That’s how compassion arises.

That leads to bodhicitta, taking responsibility, thinking, “I will do it by myself alone. I will  free the sentient beings from all the suffering and causes, and bring them to ultimate happiness. Not just temporary, but ultimate happiness, especially the highest, the ultimate happiness, enlightenment. Therefore I need to be enlightened.” The bodhicitta arises like that.

By having this realization of bodhicitta, we enter the path. Then we can complete the two types of merit—the merit of wisdom and the merit of virtue—and we can achieve full enlightenment, the cessation of all the mistakes of mind, not only all the sufferings, but all the mistakes of mind. We can accomplish all that, the completion of all the qualities.

And then we’re able to do perfect work, without the slightest mistake, with no frustration, no difficulty, not one single difficulty to work for other sentient beings. Just as the sun rises—there’s one sun that rises, and the minute the sun rises, the reflection goes to every drop of water, every ocean, even the smallest water dew, a drop of water, anything that has no cover, the reflection comes immediately. How much water in the world—water dew, ocean, water spring, pond, lake—the sun’s reflection is just there. There’s no motivation for the sun, “Oh, I’m going to reflect in all this water.”

Like that, once we achieve enlightenment, then [we can do] everything simultaneously, spontaneously—working for sentient beings, benefiting others, doing service for others, without the slightest difficulties, spontaneously, without any mistake.

Therefore, we need to do meditation, together with the busy life, work. We need to do meditation, with the continuity, developing compassion, with continuity keeping the mind in that.

Also when we live the life with that mind, with that compassion, when we meditate in the morning—when we generate the motivation, the compassion, in the morning, and we do meditation on that—then we live the rest of the life with that. The rest of the day, we do things with that. That helps so much, that helps.

When we do the work with compassion, it makes so much difference in our life, like earth and sky.  There is so much peace and happiness, our mind is not tight, uptight, and there is so much peace and happiness. There’s no barrier between ourselves and the other person, the other sentient being.

Because of our compassion, we feel others in your heart. We feel others are close to us. We feel that in our heart, then others also feel we’re close to them. When we feel they’re close to us, they also feel we’re close to them. So it’s like family.

This is what I wanted [to say.] This is one answer.

The other answer is to not have frustration if there’s some problem, if things are not happening and we’re frustrated. That one, now here it’s a question of karma, cause and effect. If we have the cause, we’ll have success. If we don’t have the cause, we won’t have success. So we need to create the cause for success.

Therefore, whatever method or means there is for success, then we should engage with that. Then we’ll have success. That helps to not have frustration. Sorry, it became a little bit long.

Notes

1 Heaven of Thirty-three: The highest of the god realm abodes in Buddhist cosmology; it is atop Mount Meru and ruled by Indra. [Return to text.]