Wisdom from the Dalai Lama

A Practice for the New Millennium

The Dalai Lama has asked that the following practice be shared with as many people as possible.

A group recently spent days visiting with the Dalai Lama focusing upon what they believe the five most important questions to be considered moving into the new millennium.

The five questions were:

1. How do we address the widening gap between rich and poor?

2. How do we protect the earth?

3. How do we educate our children?

4. How do we help Tibet and other oppressed countries and peoples of the world?

5. How do we bring spirituality (deep caring for one another) through all disciplines of life?

The Dalai Lama said all five questions fall under the last one. If we have true compassion in our hearts, our children will be educated wisely, we will care for the earth, those who "have not" will be cared for.

The group asked the Dalai Lama, "Do you think loving on the planet is increasing or staying the same?" His response:

"My experience leads me to believe that love IS increasing." He shared a simple practice that will increase loving and compassion in the world. He asked everyone in the group to share it with as many people as they can.

The Practice

[  Spend 5 minutes at the beginning of each day remembering we all want
             the same things (to be happy and be loved) and we are all connected
             to one another. [  Spend 5 minutes -- breathing in -- cherishing yourself; and, breathing out
             cherishing others. If you think about people you have difficulty cherishing,
             extend your cherishing to them anyway. [  During the day extend that attitude to everyone you meet.
             Practice cherishing the "simplest" person (clerks, attendants, etc)
             or people you dislike. [  Continue this practice no matter what happens or what anyone does to you.
             These thoughts are very simple, inspiring and helpful.
             The practice of cherishing can be taken very deeply if done wordlessly,
             allowing yourself to feel the love and appreciation that
             already exists in your heart.

Book review - The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Wisdom

I bought this little book a while ago & have read it quite a few times.

The Dalai Lama is one of the world's most well-known spiritual leaders. But don't let that put you off. This book is mainly common sense.

He advises us to perform experiments on our own minds. This means observing your thoughts as they come & go and determining which thoughts lead to peace of mind and which thoughts disturb it. From my own experience, I have found that peace of mind comes from thoughts of compassion, forgiveness, kindness & gratitude.

Here are a few sections of the book to give you more of an idea -

When I see beings of unpleasant character
Oppressed by strong negativity and suffering,
May I hold them dear - for they are rare to find -
As if I have discovered a jewel treasure!

This verse refers to the special case of relating to people who are socially marginalised, perhaps because of their behaviour, their appearance, their destitution, or on account of some illness. Whoever practices bodhichitta must take special care of these people, as if, on meeting them, you have found a real treasure. Instead of feeling repulsed, a true practitioner of these altruistic principles should engage and take on the challenge of relating. In fact, the way we interact with people of this kind could give a great impetus to our spiritual practice.
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Within the body there are billions of different particles. Similarly, there are many different thoughts and a variety of states of mind. It is wise to take a close look into the world of your mind and to make the distinction between beneficial and harmful states of mind. Once you can recognise the value of good states of mind, you can increase or foster them.
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The Dalai Lama also speaks about unbiased compassion. This means to treat everyone equally regardless of whether you have labeled them in your mind as "friend", "enemy" or "stranger". He says that we are all basically the same in that we each wish to experience happiness & we wish to overcome suffering. We do have a tendency to reserve our kindest thoughts for those who agree with us & who are most like us.
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For a few more of the Dalai Lama's thoughts try this site:

http://rudyh.org/dalai-lama-quotes-quotations.htm

Some more links:

Some thoughts on compassion - many by the Dalai Lama

Their index is huge - enuf 2 keep you out of mischief 4 a few weeks

Wisdom commons is another huge site

You can search 4 authors at that site