Lama Zopa Rinpoche's Online Advice Book
Lam-rim Topics :
Compassion
- Compassion
- Compassion and Loving Kindness Quotes
Compassion
| Essential Advice | |
| Rinpoche sent the following cards to a student | |
Dear Jenny,
Hello! How are you? I hope everything is going well with you. The most important things in life for you, especially for others, who are numberless, are compassion, the thought of benefiting others, caring for others, and causing happiness for others.
We have to understand and learn about others’ suffering, which is of different types, and all the causes of suffering, that are not outside but inside, not in the belly or nose, but in the mind, the negative imprints and where negative thoughts and wrong concepts come from, and how wrong views come from these and so many types of hallucination are projected. George can help you to clarify and elaborate on this. The outside is only a condition. Only with this understanding can you generate compassion for others: animals, hell beings, hungry ghosts, devas, human beings, not only the sick and poor but the suffering rich people, devas, worldly gods, the desire realms, form realm, and formless realm. Then, you come to know what is the actual, unmistaken liberation that they need to achieve, and the different levels of happiness they need to achieve. You see the real, ultimate, highest happiness they need to attain.
Otherwise, there can be wrong compassion, the thought of benefiting others in what you believe to be right, but not in what others need. In caring for others, there can be a wrong point of view. For example, Shakyamuni Buddha did not see God or the Big Bang as creating everything, including suffering (war, torture, and so forth). If one believes in the Big Bang, it is the wrong path, suffering from the wrong concept. So, when studying Buddhism, analyze yourself in terms of the good heart caring for others. Causing others happiness is the best thing for others, also for yourself. Peace and everything else come from that. What you need – happiness – others also need, including enlightenment. This is the most beneficial thing in life. This is the happiest life now and even more so in the future. It would be very good to chant the compassion mantra every day for this.
|
Compassion |
|
| Rinpoche explained why compassion is so important. | |
I met a Tibetan woman from Nepal, who is married to an ex-monk from Kopan Monastery. I think she is very compassionate. She said she usually wants to give money to the beggars, because she is compassionate. So, some beggars got angry and fought with her. She told me she was scared of that.
So I told her it is extremely good that you are doing this. Your compassion is extremely precious, very important, is a wish-fulfilling jewel. The strong compassion you have is what brings you to enlightenment quickly. It is very important to actualize compassion for others, because enlightenment, the Mahayana path of bodhicitta, real bodhicitta—great compassion for sentient beings—is the root of enlightenment.
This is the most precious thing, this quality. Strong compassion enables us to achieve enlightenment quickly, for example, Shakyamuni Buddha generated bodhicitta much earlier than Maitreya Buddha. Maitreya Buddha generated it much later. In a past life they were born to the same family as brothers. Both of them saw five tigers dying of starvation at Namo Buddha in Nepal, on the mountain. Both went back. Shakyamuni Buddha gave his body to the tigress. At first they wouldn’t eat him, so he cut his neck and gave them some blood from his neck, then slowly, slowly, he gave them his whole body. Anyway, that’s how the tiger family ate his holy body; he sacrificed himself. Maitreya Buddha didn't do that at this time, so you can see the difference: Buddha's compassion was much more powerful and that’s why Shakyamuni Buddha became enlightened earlier than Maitreya Buddha. I told her how compassion is so important, like that.
|
Results of Compassion |
|
| Rinpoche wrote the following to a university professor who was testing students after they meditated on compassion. Rinpoche commented one of his questions about the nature of compassion. | |
My very dear Dr. Collins,
Thank you very much for your kind letter on the project.
I don't remember very clearly the previous questions you asked, but in this last letter there was one question that you asked which stayed in my mind. The question you asked was about whether compassion is sadness or not.
I would say that in the nature of compassion there is a feeling of something being unbearable, because of the suffering of others. Then, there is also a feeling of sadness because of other sentient beings’ sufferings.
If you analyze the nature of compassion, it is like that, but if you debate on the nature of compassion, then that might appear strange. If it is debated, it may appear strange to say whether Buddha has sadness or Buddha has unhappiness. For example, even though the texts do discuss how when you do wrong things then Buddha is displeased (displeased means unhappiness), that doesn't mean Buddha does not guide you or gives you up.
There is sadness due to attachment – when the object of attachment is lost, dies, the relationship ends, there are problems with the wife/husband, etc. The person who leaves his or her partner is very happy in some situations, if being together was suffering for him or her. By not being together, it is much better for him or her. But the other person, who was left, is sad and unhappy, because the object of attachment has left. Of course, that sadness is not compassion, that sadness and the nature of that sadness is unpleasant in nature. However, the compassion one feels when somebody is suffering, whether it is a relative or a stranger, that feeling of something being unbearable because the other person has pain or problems, that contains sadness, but it has a peaceful nature. That sadness is certainly different to the sadness due to attachment. The sadness from attachment has only a negative effect, whereas the sadness from compassion has only positive effects.
Of these two types of sadness, the one coming from attachment comes from only thinking about yourself, which is completely different to the sadness coming from compassion, which is thinking of other people and having a natural feeling that you want to help them.
I hope there will be some good results from your tests. I think the other most important thing that might happen is that many people will put more effort into the lam-rim meditations, which will help them in the near future to have realizations of bodhicitta.
I hope you are very well and that in the future you will have time to come to Aptos to my house to relax a little bit and so we can chat more.
Sincerely with prayers,
Lama Zopa
