Dharma Paths (Dream Flag Series) by Rinpoche Ve n. Khenpo Karthar

Author:Rinpoche, Ve n. Khenpo Karthar [Rinpoche, Ve n. Khenpo Karthar]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Tibetan Buddhism
ISBN: 9781559399272
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Published: 1992-01-01T02:00:00+00:00

Questions:

Q: Is loving-kindness just an attitude?

A: Yes, it is basically an attitude. If we have a kind and gentle attitude, that will bring about a very healthy and pleasant atmosphere. We will extend a quality of warmth that makes other people feel relaxed and comfortable. Since we are members of society, this will contribute toward a more pleasant and livable society. As a simple example, if our leaders are very kind, compassionate, loving people, and they go away for a time, when we hear that they are coming back, we feel very happy. We want to celebrate that day in some way. There is warmth and openness, and everyone’s spirits are lifted up. But if our leaders are very aggressive and angry, when they return after an absence, our reaction is to look for a place to hide and do our best to avoid them. If loving-kindness is in our hearts and we sincerely mean it, we will express it with our words and gestures. That will bring about warmth and friendship.

Q: Rinpoche, you spoke about helping prevent one animal from killing another animal. In the West, we believe that for certain animals, their nature is to kill, and they would not be able to eat if they did not kill other animals. Would you comment on that?

A: Yes, it is true that certain animals are born to survive by killing others. This very unfortunate pattern comes about because of past karmic conditioning. These animals have no wisdom; they just immediately kill other animals. Not only have they taken a very unfortunate birth in this lifetime, but this also signals a worse state of existence in the future, since killing others can only result in more suffering and pain. As people who are living up to the bodhisattva attitude, we should have equal compassion toward the one being killed and the one doing the killing.

It is very unfortunate to be killed, to be the victim, but it is equally unfortunate to be the killer of another being. As a result of killing, one will have to go through immeasurable suffering. It is really not worth it. If one had the choice and realization, it would be much better to starve. If we are in a position to prevent this killing from happening, we should do so with equal compassion and concern for both beings. This does not mean we are causing the animal to starve when we stop it from devouring another one. We will not always be able to keep it from feeding. It will find more prey, but we will have done our part.

Ordinarily, when we talk about being compassionate, we are frankly not being compassionate at all. When we say we hate a person who has killed or beaten another, that is not compassion but aggression and attachment. We hate the person who killed because we had attachment toward the person who was killed, so where is the compassion? Compassion is having an equal concern for both. It is just as unfortunate to be the killer as to be the victim, if not more so.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.