OM SARI HUM
There are generally two kinds of people in this world - the way they see and judge others. The first kind are the lowly kind who ‘will not’ want to see the good points in others. Therefore they are only interested in finding faults and then to take pains to amplify to others. This is a harmful practice which Dharma practitioners must not indulge in, but it will be difficult until one has gained wisdom. Such type of people suffers from envy and jealousy even though they are not aware of it. Do not fall into this category of being or you will be the cause of misery for many. The second kind of people are the indifferent ones who mind their own business and will neither speak good or bad about others. Minding their own business seems to be their motto in life. Although this may seem right to many, yet it will not help to bring about love and concern towards others. Life is to learn how to relate to others so that the seeds of bodhicitta may flourish and grow. To be an indifferent person, one’s nature cannot be warm so the chances of his developing a warm heart may be quite slim. Such a life cannot be of any benefit to oneself or others and this is generally due to one’s nature being selfish. It will be quite difficult for him to rejoice in the merits done by others. Dharma practice will not appeal to them because it requires the generation of such sublime positive qualities as friendship, compassion, altruistic joy and equanimity. Anyone who has no taste for the development of such wonderful virtues will not be able to experience a mind of peace.
The world is filled with uncaring beings, those who rather hate than love and those who will not care! They are the causes of all worldly miseries which they refuse to acknowledge and they are not able to see that in the end, what they have sown, they must reap.
Be in the caring group; those who live by the Dharma and strive to remove causes of misery from living beings. Be wise and know that the way to a peaceful mind is through causing others to be happy. Do this by seeing into the nature of others. Then the reasons why the world is so becomes quite clear. The Buddha’s Path is not a worldly path. It requires one to turn away from the world. This does not mean losing interest in the world, but to learn to ‘see’ the worldly attractions rightly. To develop the divine nature you must be able to be freed from the influences of worldly snares which are nothing but fetters that bind beings to the world. It is natural to be worldly, to stay as such, because all who are here are worldly beings.
It will be difficult for worldly beings to wish to renounce the world which they are so accustomed to, even though it is suffering-filled, even though their sojourn here is only temporary and even though they long for happiness which are not to be found in this world! Human beings are like that! They wish for something yet they are ‘afraid’ to attain it or they will not ‘move’ forth to get what is attainable! They know what is good for them but they naturally remain bad. They wish that others will care and love them but they will not respond towards others in the way that they should. That is why they treasure what is worthless, that which will not bring them true happiness; that is why they are selfish and prefer to see harm befall others or are indifferent to the needs of others. In this way, there is no way for them to elevate themselves in this lifetime. It would be a miracle if they were able to remain ‘where they are’, and to be able to take another human rebirth because they have not appreciated the value of life and have not lived it purposefully. The reasons why they are so can be learned from the Teachings of the Wise and Great Ones who appear at intervals of time.
They do so in order to allow human beings to ‘see’ their nature reflected by their ways of life and the teachings they give. Still, the majority of mankind will not benefit, but out of compassion for the ‘few’ who would, who could be ‘awakened’ and who would live on to propagate the Teachings. So the Teachings are for all who are in deep slumber, who are in a state of Ignorance, who must be awakened and be saved from the rounds of birth and rebirth.
As long as they are under the powerful influences of Fear, Attachment, Wrong Views and Delusion, they will act as a samsaric being and they will be the uncaring ones who are not able to ‘see’ life with the right perspective! They are not ready to accept the good teachings and they will shun disciplines of life. And they will remain so until a good ‘karmic cause’ ripens to place them in a position of awakening. Sometimes it is in the form of a shock, sometimes arising as pains and sometimes through meeting ‘beneficial ones’ who are able to recognise their potentials to change over. Until such times arise they will be caught by the net of delusion. Pray that they do not die until they have been awakened!
For those who have learned to care, who have been ‘awakened’ to the reality of life, they must not fall back to old ways and once more to be swallowed by delusion. But it will be difficult for most to ‘survive’ freedom from worldly attractions because their mind often lacks energy. To rise against to their senses will require extreme effort. It calls for mind-training, the way to subdue the worldly mind. It is to go against natural tendencies, to replace sluggishness with awareness, to reduce worldly values with spiritual values. It is to learn to act against being a worldly being and to develop the divine nature! How? Live life rightly! Be a caring being so that when disharmony is seen amongst men - create harmony, recognise the good that is in others in order to forgive their faults, speak good of others, regard all as having been your benefactors of the past, as great benefactors in this present life and will be so again in the future and learn to treat all equally. Do not judge others but only your own self and then to see the world and all its creatures with ‘eyes of love!’
Monday, 6th April 1987 (3rd Moon 9th Day)