Emma Blake dares say...
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
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The Dalai Lama - too much too
young
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"The compassion we feel normally is biased and mixed with attachment. Genuine compassion flows towards all living beings, particularly your enemies. If I try to develop compassion towards my enemy, it may not benefit him directly, he may not even be aware of it. But it will immediately benefit me by calming my mind. On the other hand, if I dwell on how awful everything is, I immediately lose my peace of mind." The Dalai Lama
No wonder Tibet still lives under the rule of Beijing. Heaven forbid that dwelling on the awful goings on in the world and the vile deeds of others should make anyone lose their peace of mind.
Look, I know he no longer lives in the Potala Palace, but if you're in love with words and looking for a title for a piece, alliteration is a great temptation. The Dalai Lama has unleashed a good few quotable quotes in his time, but Mohandas K. Gandhi he is not. Lhamo Dondrub/Tenzin Gyatso was chosen as a baby to be groomed for the post he occupies and his word is not infallible on all matters of spirituality, or the right way to live. Compassion flowing to all living beings? That would be good. This, after all, is the spiritual head of a philosophy that has non-violence at its core, yet who is well known to tuck into meat on State occasions with gusto, citing a bout of ill health some time ago as his reason. With a host of world and religious leaders on his rolodex, it seems we are to believe he couldn't find a nutritionist to help him find any protein alternatives that do not involve violent death and dismemberment of sentient beings for his plate.
Still, that is a matter for his own conscience, and I will say no more about it, but I will continue to say that sitting on a Himalayan mountain radiating compassion is a luxury simply not afforded to all who have to live down in the dirt day to day.
Personally, I would prefer to live a life of action and protest. Knowing that I am doing something positive to stop everything being awful gives me peace of mind.
