Week 4

Dalai Lama: The Ethic of Compassion

When reading the Dalai Lama, I felt as though he was speaking to me. It wasn’t a feeling that I was being preached to or talked at. He is genuine in his words which makes this an easy read. He is giving people advice of things they should already know, such as, kindness, compassion and love. However, many people in today’s society seemed to have lost these three things while aging. Many people I meet, including myself, do not practice these 3 values. Without these 3 values, people have become selfish and self centered. He also says;

"I believe our every-day experience confirms that a self-centred attitude towards problems can be destructive not only towards society, but to the individual as well. Selfishness does not solve problems for us, it multiplies them. Accepting responsibility and maintaining respect for other will leave all concerned at peace. This is the essence of Mahayana Buddhism." –Dalai Lama

I believe that this statement sums up today’s society and how far away from universal peace we have become. This statement was the point in his excerpt that I just stopped to think about the things that I have done recently and in the past that are very self-centered and I actually felt upset for my actions.

I enjoyed how the Ethics of Compassion can be applied to anyone, regardless of their culture, race or religion. His mission is for universal peace and if everyone practiced compassion, kindness and love for one another, the world might be a couple steps closer to universal peace.