I want to open by quoting Einstein's wonderful statement, just so people will feel at ease that the great scientist of the 20th century also agrees with us, and also calls us to this action. He said, "A human being is a part of the whole, called by us, the 'universe,' -- a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion, to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
Rad bi začel z Einsteinovo čudovito izjavo, da si boste lahko oddahnili ob misli, da se tudi veliki znanstvenik dvajsetega stoletja strinja z nami, a nas hkrati tudi poziva k dejanjem. Dejal je: "Človeško bitje je del celote, ki jo imenujemo "univerzum", del, omejen v prostoru in času. Svoje misli in doživetja doživlja kot nekaj ločenega od ostalega, to pa je neke vrste optična iluzija njegove zavesti. Ta iluzija predstavlja za nas neke vrste zapor in nas omejuje na osebne odločitve in na občutke do samo malega števila oseb, ki so nam najbližje. Naša naloga mora biti, da se osvobodimo tega zapora in da širimo krog naših občutkov, tako da bodo objeli vsa živa bitja in vso naravo v vsej njeni lepoti."
This insight of Einstein's is uncannily close to that of Buddhist psychology, wherein compassion -- "karuna," it is called -- is defined as, "the sensitivity to another's suffering and the corresponding will to free the other from that suffering." It pairs closely with love, which is the will for the other to be happy, which requires, of course, that one feels some happiness oneself and wishes to share it. This is perfect in that it clearly opposes self-centeredness and selfishness to compassion, the concern for others, and, further, it indicates that those caught in the cycle of self-concern suffer helplessly, while the compassionate are more free and, implicitly, more happy.
Einsteinov pogled je neverjetno podoben tistemu iz budistične psihologije, kjer sočutje, ki ga imenujejo "karuna", definirajo kot "občutljivost na trpljenje drugega in volja, da drugega tega trpljenja odreši". Zelo je podobno ljubezni. Slednja je namreč volja, da bi bil nekdo srečen. Kar seveda zahteva, da sami čutimo srečo in jo želimo deliti z drugim. Tak vidik je popoln, saj očitno nasprotuje samoljubju in sebičnosti, medtem ko je sočutje skrb za druge, in oznanja, da tisti, ki so ujeti v krog samoljubja, nemočno trpijo, medtem ko so sočutni svobodnejši in nedvomno srečnejši.
The Dalai Lama often states that compassion is his best friend. It helps him when he is overwhelmed with grief and despair. Compassion helps him turn away from the feeling of his suffering as the most absolute, most terrible suffering anyone has ever had and broadens his awareness of the sufferings of others, even of the perpetrators of his misery and the whole mass of beings. In fact, suffering is so huge and enormous, his own becomes less and less monumental. And he begins to move beyond his self-concern into the broader concern for others. And this immediately cheers him up, as his courage is stimulated to rise to the occasion. Thus, he uses his own suffering as a doorway to widening his circle of compassion. He is a very good colleague of Einstein's, we must say.
Dalajlama pogosto pripomne, da je sočutje človeku najboljši prijatelj. Pomaga mu, ko ga žalost in trpljenje uničujeta. Sočutje mu pomaga odvrniti se od občutka, da je njegovo trpljenje najhujše in najbolj bridko trpljenje, kar ga je kdorkoli kdaj občutil, in mu zavest usmeri k trpljenju drugih, celo h krivcem za njegovo potrtost in mnogim drugim bitjem. Pravzaprav je trpljenje tako razširjeno, da se mu njegovo lastno zdi vse manj pomembno. Tako se začne razširjati preko skrbi zase v skrb za druge. To ga takoj razveseli in mu da pogum, da se dodatno potrudi. Tako uporablja lastno trpljenje kot vrata v širši krog občutkov. Moramo reči, da je Einsteinov somišljenik.
Now, I want to tell a story, which is a very famous story in the Indian and Buddhist tradition, of the great Saint Asanga who was a contemporary of Augustine in the West and was sort of like the Buddhist Augustine. And Asanga lived 800 years after the Buddha's time. And he was discontented with the state of people's practice of the Buddhist religion in India at that time.
Zdaj pa želim povedati zgodbo, zelo slavno zgodbo iz indijske in budistične tradicije, o velikem svetniku Asangi, ki je živel v istem obdobju kot Avguštin na zahodu in je bil neke vrste budistični Avguštin. Asanga je živel 800 let po smrti Bude. Bil je nezadovoljen s takratnimi prepričanji budističnih Indijcev.
And so he said, "I'm sick of all this. Nobody's really living the doctrine. They're talking about love and compassion and wisdom and enlightenment, but they are acting selfish and pathetic. So, Buddha's teaching has lost its momentum. I know the next Buddha will come a few thousand years from now, but exists currently in a certain heaven" -- that's Maitreya -- "so, I'm going to go on a retreat and I'm going to meditate and pray until the Buddha Maitreya reveals himself to me, and gives me a teaching or something to revive the practice of compassion in the world today."
Tako je dejal: "Sit sem tega. Nihče tu zares ne živi po naukih. Govorijo o ljubezni in sočutju, o modrosti in razsvetljenju, toda obnašajo se sebično in bedno. Budin nauk je tako izgubil svoj vpliv. Vem, da bo naslednji Buda prišel čez neka tisoč let, vendar se trenutno nahaja v posebnih nebesih, imenujejo se Maitreja. Zato se bom umaknil in meditiral ter molil, dokler se mi ne razodene Maitreja Buda in mi preda nauk ali kaj podobnega, da bi v današnjem svetu oživil nauk o sočutju."
So he went on this retreat. And he meditated for three years and he did not see the future Buddha Maitreya. And he left in disgust. And as he was leaving, he saw a man -- a funny little man sitting sort of part way down the mountain. And he had a lump of iron. And he was rubbing it with a cloth. And he became interested in that. He said, "Well what are you doing?" And the man said, "I'm making a needle." And he said, "That's ridiculous. You can't make a needle by rubbing a lump of iron with a cloth." And the man said, "Really?" And he showed him a dish full of needles. So he said, "Okay, I get the point." He went back to his cave. He meditated again.
Tako se je umaknil. In meditiral je tri leta in ni videl bodočega Maitreje Bude. Zato je z gnusom odšel. In ko je odhajal, je videl moža, smešnega možička, ki je sedel na pobočju gore. Pri sebi je imel kepo železa. In jo je drgnil s krpo. To ga je pritegnilo. Vprašal je: "Kaj pa počneš?" In mož je rekel: "Delam šivanko." On pa je rekel: "To je smešno. Z drgnjenjem krpe ob železo ne moreš napraviti igle." In mož je rekel: "Kaj res?" In pokazal mu je skledo, polno igel. Zato je odgovoril: "Prav, že razumem." Vrnil se je nazaj v jamo in spet meditiral.
Another three years, no vision. He leaves again. This time, he comes down. And as he's leaving, he sees a bird making a nest on a cliff ledge. And where it's landing to bring the twigs to the cliff, its feathers brushes the rock -- and it had cut the rock six to eight inches in. There was a cleft in the rock by the brushing of the feathers of generations of the birds. So he said, "All right. I get the point." He went back.
Po nadaljnjih treh letih ni bilo videnja. Spet je odšel. Tokrat pride dol. Ko odhaja, vidi ptico, ki dela gnezdo na polici pečine. In kjer ptica pristane, da prinese vejice k pečini, njeno perje podrgne ob kamen, in v njem je nastala zareza, globoka 15 do 20 cenitmetrov. Nastala je z drgnjenjem peres več generacij ptic. Tako je rekel: "Že prav, saj razumem." Vrnil se je.
Another three years. Again, no vision of Maitreya after nine years. And he again leaves, and this time: water dripping, making a giant bowl in the rock where it drips in a stream. And so, again, he goes back. And after 12 years there is still no vision. And he's freaked out. And he won't even look left or right to see any encouraging vision.
Spet minejo tri leta. In po devetih letih nobenega videnja Maitreje. Spet odide in tokrat vidi vodo, ki s kapljanjem v kamen pod seboj in naprej v potok dolbe ogromno skledo. Tako se spet vrne. In po 12 letih še vedno ni videnja. In je že čisto nor. Zato sploh noče pogledati ne na levo ne na desno, da bi zagledal kakšno vizijo, ki bi mu spet vlila upanje.
And he comes to the town. He's a broken person. And there, in the town, he's approached by a dog who comes like this -- one of these terrible dogs you can see in some poor countries, even in America, I think, in some areas -- and he's looking just terrible. And he becomes interested in this dog because it's so pathetic, and it's trying to attract his attention. And he sits down looking at the dog. And the dog's whole hindquarters are a complete open sore. Some of it is like gangrenous, and there are maggots in the flesh. And it's terrible. He thinks, "What can I do to fix up this dog? Well, at least I can clean this wound and wash it."
Tako pride v mesto. Popolnoma je izgubljen. Tam, v mestu, se mu približa pes, v takem stanju kot tisti grozljivi psi, ki jih lahko vidite v nekaterih revnih državah, celo v Ameriki, se mi zdi, na nekaterih območjih, in tisti pes zgleda naravnost grozljivo. In se začne zanimati za psa, ker zgleda tako pomilovanja vreden, in skuša pridobiti njegovo pozornost. Zato se usede na tla in ga gleda. In zadnjica tistega psa se zdi kot sama odprta rana. Na nekaterih delih je bila že gangrenozna. V mesu so že črvi. Grozljiv pogled je. Misli si: "Kaj lahko naredim, da bi tega psa pozdravil? Vsaj njegovo rano lahko očistim in razkužim."
So, he takes it to some water. He's about to clean, but then his awareness focuses on the maggots. And he sees the maggots, and the maggots are kind of looking a little cute. And they're maggoting happily in the dog's hindquarters there. "Well, if I clean the dog, I'll kill the maggots. So how can that be? That's it. I'm a useless person and there's no Buddha, no Maitreya, and everything is all hopeless. And now I'm going to kill the maggots?"
Tako psa odnese k vodi in ga hoče umiti, nato pa pozornost usmeri k črvom. In ko jih vidi, sem mu zdijo malce srčkani. Veselo črvičijo po pasji zadnji plati. "Če bom očistil psa, bom ubil črve. Kaj lahko potem naredim? Že vem. Sem nekoristno bitje, Buda in Maitreja ne obstajata, vse skupaj je brezupno. In zdaj naj ubijem črve?"
So, he had a brilliant idea. And he took a shard of something, and cut a piece of flesh from his thigh, and he placed it on ground. He was not really thinking too carefully about the ASPCA. He was just immediately caught with the situation. So he thought, "I will take the maggots and put them on this piece of flesh, then clean the dog's wounds, and then I'll figure out what to do with the maggots."
Tako se je spomnil odlične ideje. Tako je vzel črepinjo in psu iz stegna izrezal kos mesa in ga položil na tla. S kakšnim društvom proti mučenju živali se ni preveč obremenjeval. Situacija ga je popolnoma prevzela. Tako si je mislil: "Črve bom vzel in jih položil na ta kos mesa, potem bom psu očistil rano in razmislil, kaj bom naredil s črvi."
So he starts to do that. He can't grab the maggots. Apparently they wriggle around. They're kind of hard to grab, these maggots. So he says, "Well, I'll put my tongue on the dog's flesh. And then the maggots will jump on my warmer tongue" -- the dog is kind of used up -- "and then I'll spit them one by one down on the thing." So he goes down, and he's sticking his tongue out like this. And he had to close his eyes, it's so disgusting, and the smell and everything.
Tako začne z delom. Črvov ne more zgrabiti. Očitno se zvijajo. Te črve je težko zagrabiti. Zato si reče: "Potem pa bom položil svoj jezik na meso. Potem bodo črvi skočili na moj topli jezik. Pes je že izčrpan. In potem jih bom posamično pljuval na odrezani kos." In tako se skloni in takole iztegne jezik. Moral je zatisniti oči, vonj je bil naravnost ogaben.
And then, suddenly, there's a pfft, a noise like that. He jumps back and there, of course, is the future Buddha Maitreya in a beautiful vision -- rainbow lights, golden, jeweled, a plasma body, an exquisite mystic vision -- that he sees. And he says, "Oh." He bows. But, being human, he's immediately thinking of his next complaint.
In potem se zasliši "puf". Odskoči in pred njim, seveda, stoji bodoči Maitreja Buda. Njegova podoba je obdana z zlato-mavričnim, bleščeče pisanim sijem, edinstven mističen pogled je bil. In si reče: "Oh," in se prikloni. Ker pa je še vedno človek, takoj začne razmišljati o naslednji pritožbi.
So as he comes up from his first bow he says, "My Lord, I'm so happy to see you, but where have you been for 12 years? What is this?"
Tako vstane in reče: "Moj gospod, s takim veseljem Vas vidim, toda kje Ste bili 12 let? Kaj to pomeni?"
And Maitreya says, "I was with you. Who do you think was making needles and making nests and dripping on rocks for you, mister dense?" (Laughter) "Looking for the Buddha in person," he said. And he said, "You didn't have, until this moment, real compassion. And, until you have real compassion, you cannot recognize love." "Maitreya" means love, "the loving one," in Sanskrit.
In Maitreja reče: "S teboj sem bil. Kdo drug, pa misliš, je izdeloval šivanke in gnezda in kapljal po kamnu zate, tepček?" (smeh) "Osebno sem želel videt Budo," reče. In on je rekel: "Doslej nisi imel pravega sočutja." In dokler nimaš pravega sočutja, ne moreš prepoznati ljubezni." Maitreja tu misli ljubezen, "ljubeči" v sanskrtu.
And so he looked very dubious, Asanga did. And he said, "If you don't believe me, just take me with you." And so he took the Maitreya -- it shrunk into a globe, a ball -- took him on his shoulder. And he ran into town in the marketplace, and he said, "Rejoice! Rejoice! The future Buddha has come ahead of all predictions. Here he is." And then pretty soon they started throwing rocks and stones at him -- it wasn't Chautauqua, it was some other town -- because they saw a demented looking, scrawny looking yogi man, like some kind of hippie, with a bleeding leg and a rotten dog on his shoulder, shouting that the future Buddha had come.
Asanga ga je pogledal precej dvomeče. In mu je Buda rekel: "Če mi ne verjameš, me vzemi s seboj." Tako se je Maitreja skrčil v majhno oblo in ga je Asanga nosil na rami. Stekel je na mestni trg in govoril: "Veselite se. Veselite se. Prihodnji Buda je prehitel prerokbo. Tu je. Kar hitro so vanj začeli metati kamne -- to se ni dogajalo v Chautauqui, bilo je v drugem mestu -- ker so videli koščenega asketa, ki se je zdel malo prismojen, ki je, kot kakšen hipi, z zlomljeno nogo in gnilim psom na rami naokoli kričal, da je prišel prihodnji Buda.
So, naturally, they chased him out of town. But on the edge of town, one elderly lady, a charwoman in the charnel ground, saw a jeweled foot on a jeweled lotus on his shoulder and then the dog, but she saw the jewel foot of the Maitreya, and she offered a flower. So that encouraged him, and he went with Maitreya.
Razumljivo je, da so ga pregnali iz mesta. Toda na obrobju mesta je stara dama, ki je delala kot čistilka na odprtem grobišču, in na njegovi in pasji rami opazila draguljasto nogo in lotos, Maitrejino draguljasto nogo, in mu ponudila rožo. To ga je spodbudilo in je z Maitrejo odšel.
Maitreya then took him to a certain heaven, which is the typical way a Buddhist myth unfolds. And Maitreya then kept him in heaven for five years, dictating to him five complicated tomes of the methodology of how you cultivate compassion.
Maitreja ga je ponesel v posebna nebesa, kakor se tipično budistične legende odvijajo. Maitreja ga je v nebesih zadržal pet let, kjer mu je narekoval pet zapletenih zvezkov o metodologiji, kako gojimo sočutje.
And then I thought I would share with you what that method is, or one of them. A famous one, it's called the "Sevenfold Causal Method of Developing Compassion." And it begins first by one meditating and visualizing that all beings are with one -- even animals too, but everyone is in human form. The animals are in one of their human lives. The humans are human. And then, among them, you think of your friends and loved ones, the circle at the table. And you think of your enemies, and you think of the neutral ones. And then you try to say, "Well, the loved ones I love. But, you know, after all, they're nice to me. I had fights with them. Sometimes they were unfriendly. I got mad. Brothers can fight. Parents and children can fight. So, in a way, I like them so much because they're nice to me. While the neutral ones I don't know. They could all be just fine. And then the enemies I don't like because they're mean to me. But they are nice to somebody. I could be them."
Spomnil sem se, da bi vam eno od teh metod razkril. Ta je slavna, imenuje se "sedemkratna kavzalna metoda razvijanja sočutja". Začnemo z meditiranjem in predstavo, da so vsa bitja združena v eno, in vsa, tudi živali, toda vsi so v človeški podobi. Živali so eno v človeški podobi. Ljudje so v človeški podobi. In potem si med njimi v krogu za mizo predstavljate svoje prijatelje in druge bližnje. Potem si predstavljate svoje sovražnike in nevtralne ljudi. Potem pa poskušate reči: "Bližnje imam rad. Navsezadnje so prijazni do mene. Z njimi sem se tudi prepiral. Včasih so bili neprijazni. Sam se se že razjezil. Tudi bratje se sprejo. Starši in otroci se prepirajo. Na svoj način jih imam tako rad, ker so do mene prijazni. Nevtralnih ne poznam. Lahko da so dobri ljudje. Sovražnikov me maram, ker so do mene neprijazni. So pa dobri do drugih. Tudi jaz bi lahko bil med njimi.
And then the Buddhists, of course, think that, because we've all had infinite previous lives, we've all been each other's relatives, actually. Therefore all of you, in the Buddhist view, in some previous life, although you don't remember it and neither do I, have been my mother -- for which I do apologize for the trouble I caused you. And also, actually, I've been your mother. I've been female, and I've been every single one of yours' mother in a previous life, the way the Buddhists reflect. So, my mother in this life is really great. But all of you in a way are part of the eternal mother. You gave me that expression; "the eternal mama," you said. That's wonderful. So, that's the way the Buddhists do it. A theist Christian can think that all beings, even my enemies, are God's children. So, in that sense, we're related.
Budisti seveda verjamejo, da smo vsi imeli nešteto prejšnjih življenj, zato smo bili v bistvu drug drugemu kdaj sorodniki. Zatorej so vsi -- torej tudi vi -- z vidika budizma meni v enem prejšnjih življenj bili mati, čeprav se tega nihče od nas ne spomni, zato se vam opravičujem za vse težave, ki sem vam jih povzročil. Pravzaprav sem bil tudi jaz vam mati. Bil sem ženska, bil sem v vsakem od vas, vaša mati v prejšnjem življenju. Tako razmišljajo budisti. Moja mati je torej moje življenje, to je super. Vendar ste vsi na neki način del večne matere. Rečete si, da je ideja "večne mame" odlična. Tako to počnejo budisti. Kristjan kot vernik si misli, da so vsa bitja skupaj z njegovimi sovražniki božji otroci. V tej predstavi se ujemamo.
So, they first create this foundation of equality. So, we sort of reduce a little of the clinging to the ones we love -- just in the meditation -- and we open our mind to those we don't know. And we definitely reduce the hostility and the "I don't want to be compassionate to them" to the ones we think of as the bad guys, the ones we hate and we don't like. And we don't hate anyone, therefore. So we equalize. That's very important.
Naprej torej ustvarijo osnovo enakosti. Zato se manj oklepamo tistih, ki jih ljubimo -- samo med meditacijo -- in se odpremo tistim, ki jih ne poznamo. Vsekakor zmanjšamo sovražnost in predstavo, da do nekoga ne želimo biti sočutni. Do tistih, ki si jih predstavljamo kot "slabe", ki jih ne maramo in sovražimo. Torej ne sovražimo nikogar. Enačimo se med seboj. To je zelo pomembno.
And then the next thing we do is what is called "mother recognition." And that is, we think of every being as familiar, as family. We expand. We take the feeling about remembering a mama, and we defuse that to all beings in this meditation. And we see the mother in every being. We see that look that the mother has on her face, looking at this child that is a miracle that she has produced from her own body, being a mammal, where she has true compassion, truly is the other, and identifies completely. Often the life of that other will be more important to her than her own life. And that's why it's the most powerful form of altruism. The mother is the model of all altruism for human beings, in spiritual traditions. And so, we reflect until we can sort of see that motherly expression in all beings.
Druga stvar. ki jo storimo, je "prepoznavanje matere". To pomeni, da si vsako bitje predstavljamo kot bližnjega, kot družinskega člana. Širimo se. Prevzamemo razmišljanje o mami, in tak odnos ohranjamo do vseh bitij iz te meditacije. V vsakem bitju vidimo mater. Vidimo izraz na materinem obrazu, ki gleda na otroka, kot bi bil čudež, ki je, kot pri vseh sesalcih, prišel iz njenega telesa. Ona čuti pravo sočutje, je eno z otrokom in se z njim enači. Pogosto ji bo življenje otroka pomenilo več kot lastno. Zato je materinstvo najmočnejša oblika nesebičnosti. Matere v duhovnih tradicijah vsem človeškim bitjem veljajo kot vzor nesebičnosti. Tako moramo razmišljati, dokler ne vidimo tistega materinskega izraza na vseh bitjih.
People laugh at me because, you know, I used to say that I used to meditate on mama Cheney as my mom, when, of course, I was annoyed with him about all of his evil doings in Iraq. I used to meditate on George Bush. He's quite a cute mom in a female form. He has his little ears and he smiles and he rocks you in his arms. And you think of him as nursing you. And then Saddam Hussein's serious mustache is a problem, but you think of him as a mom.
Veste, ljudje se mi smejijo, ker sem govoril, da sem si nekoč gospo Cheney predstavljal kot svojo mamo, medtem ko so mi zla dejanja njenega moža v Iraku šla na živce. Razmišljal sem o Georgeu Bushu. V ženski obliki je prav ljubka mama. Ima majhna ušesa, smehlja se in te ziba na rokah. In si predstavljate, kako vas neguje. Resni brki Saddama Husseina so težava, vendar si ga vseeno predstavljajte kot mamo.
And this is the way you do it. You take any being who looks weird to you, and you see how they could be familiar to you. And you do that for a while, until you really feel that. You can feel the familiarity of all beings. Nobody seems alien. They're not "other." You reduce the feeling of otherness about beings. Then you move from there to remembering the kindness of mothers in general, if you can remember the kindness of your own mother, if you can remember the kindness of your spouse, or, if you are a mother yourself, how you were with your children. And you begin to get very sentimental; you cultivate sentimentality intensely. You will even weep, perhaps, with gratitude and kindness. And then you connect that with your feeling that everyone has that motherly possibility. Every being, even the most mean looking ones, can be motherly.
Tako se to počne. Za primer vzamete vsako bitje, ki se vam zdi čudno, in skušajte ugotoviti, kako bi se lahko nanj čustveno navezali. To počnite nekaj časa, dokler tega resnično ne začutite. Čutili boste bližino vseh bitij. Nihče se vam ne bo zdel tuj. Oni niso "drugi". Občutek do bitij kot "drugih" morate zmanjšati. Potem se premaknete k razmišljanju, kako prijazne so matere nasploh. Če še lahko spomnite prijaznosti lastne matere, če se lahko spomnite prijaznosti vašega zakonca, ali če ste sami matere, kakšni ste bili do svojih otrok. In postanete zelo sočutni, v vas se razvijejo močna čustva. Morda celo jokate iz hvaležnosti in veselja. In se povežete s tem občutkom, da je lahko vsakdo mati. Vsako bitje, tudi tista najbolj grozljiva, je lahko materinsko.
And then, third, you step from there to what is called "a feeling of gratitude." You want to repay that kindness that all beings have shown to you. And then the fourth step, you go to what is called "lovely love." In each one of these you can take some weeks, or months, or days depending on how you do it, or you can do them in a run, this meditation. And then you think of how lovely beings are when they are happy, when they are satisfied. And every being looks beautiful when they are internally feeling a happiness. Their face doesn't look like this. When they're angry, they look ugly, every being, but when they're happy they look beautiful. And so you see beings in their potential happiness. And you feel a love toward them and you want them to be happy, even the enemy.
Tretjič, s s tistega načina razmišljanja razvijete občutek hvaležnosti. Želite si povrniti hvaležnost, ki so vam jo vsa bitja izkazala. Kot četrti korak, preidete k "ljubki ljubezni". Za vsak korak si lahko vzamete nekaj dni, tednov ali mesecev, odvisno, kako dobro vam gre, ali pa meditacijo opravite na hitro. Potem si predstavljate, kako so bitja ljubka, ko so srečna, ko so zadovoljna. Vsako bitje je lepo, ko v svoji notranjosti čuti srečo. Njihov obraz ne zgleda takole. Ko so jezna, so vsa bitja grda, ko pa so srečna, so lepa. Tako vidite bitja v možnem stanju blaženosti. Do njih gojite čustva, da jim želite srečo, celo do sovražnikov.
We think Jesus is being unrealistic when he says, "Love thine enemy." He does say that, and we think he's being unrealistic and sort of spiritual and highfalutin. "Nice for him to say it, but I can't do that." But, actually, that's practical. If you love your enemy that means you want your enemy to be happy. If your enemy was really happy, why would they bother to be your enemy? How boring to run around chasing you. They would be relaxing somewhere having a good time. So it makes sense to want your enemy to be happy, because they'll stop being your enemy because that's too much trouble.
Pravzaprav je taka želja zelo samoumevna. Mislimo si, da je Jezus nerealen, ko nam pravi, naj ljubimo svojega sovražnika. Resnično tako misli, toda mi mislimo, da je nerealen, da je to preveč duhovno napihnjeno, mislimo si: "Lepo, da tako misli, a jaz tega ne zmorem." V resnici pa je nauk zelo priročen. Če ljubite svojega sovražnika, potem mu želite srečo. Če bi bil on resnično srečen, zakaj bi hotel biti vaš sovražnik? Vas naokoli loviti je tako dolgočasno. Raje bi se nekje sproščal in zabaval. Zato je smiselno, da svojemu sovražniku želite srečo, ker bi jim sicer vzelo preveč truda, da bi vas sovražili.
But anyway, that's the "lovely love. " And then finally, the fifth step is compassion, "universal compassion." And that is where you then look at the reality of all the beings you can think of. And you look at them, and you see how they are. And you realize how unhappy they are actually, mostly, most of the time. You see that furrowed brow in people. And then you realize they don't even have compassion on themselves. They're driven by this duty and this obligation. "I have to get that. I need more. I'm not worthy. And I should do something." And they're rushing around all stressed out. And they think of it as somehow macho, hard discipline on themselves. But actually they are cruel to themselves. And, of course, they are cruel and ruthless toward others. And they, then, never get any positive feedback. And the more they succeed and the more power they have, the more unhappy they are. And this is where you feel real compassion for them.
Kakorkoli že, to pomeni "ljubka ljubezen". Končno smo pri petem koraku, univerzalnem sočutju. Tu si predstavljate realnost vseh bitij, kar se jih lahko spomnite. Gledate jih in vidite, kako jim gre. In pravzaprav opazite, kako so večino časa nesrečna. Pri ljudeh opazite nagubano čelo. In se zaveste, da sploh ne čutijo sočutja. Ženejo jih obveznosti. "To moram dobiti. Več potrebujem. Tega nisem vreden. Nekaj moram glede tega storiti." In potem napeti hitijo naokoli. To si sami predstavljajo kot trdo, "mačo" samodisciplino. V resnici pa so do sebe zelo kuti. Seveda so potem tudi kruti do drugih. Zato tudi nikoli niso deležni odobravanja. Bolj ko so uspešni, tem več moči imajo, in bolj so nesrečni. Na tem mestu do njih čutite pravo sočutje.
And you then feel you must act. And the choice of the action, of course, hopefully will be more practical than poor Asanga, who was fixing the maggots on the dog because he had that motivation, and whoever was in front of him, he wanted to help. But, of course, that is impractical. He should have founded the ASPCA in the town and gotten some scientific help for dogs and maggots. And I'm sure he did that later. (Laughter) But that just indicates the state of mind, you know.
Čutite, da morate nekaj storiti. To je vaša motivacija in izbira, kako boste ukrepali, bo po možnosti bolj praktična kot tista od ubogega Asange, ki je s psa pobiral črve, ker je za to imel motivacijo; kdor je pred njim stal, temu je hotel pomagati. To je seveda nepraktično. Moral bi v mestu osnovati kakšno društvo za pomoč živalim in psom ter črvom priskrbeti strokovno pomoč. Prepričan sem, da je to kasneje tudi storil. To samo dokazuje, kako se je v tistem trenutku počutil.
And so the next step -- the sixth step beyond "universal compassion" -- is this thing where you're linked with the needs of others in a true way, and you have compassion for yourself also, and it isn't sentimental only. You might be in fear of something. Some bad guy is making himself more and more unhappy being more and more mean to other people and getting punished in the future for it in various ways. And in Buddhism, they catch it in the future life. Of course in theistic religion they're punished by God or whatever. And materialism, they think they get out of it just by not existing, by dying, but they don't. And so they get reborn as whatever, you know.
Naslednji, šesti korak, sega preko vsesplošnega sočutja -- takrat ste resnično povezani s potrebami drugih in ste tudi do sebe sočutni, istočasno spet niste -- ni vse sentimentalnost. Lahko da se nečesa bojite. Neki zlobnež samega sebe vse bolj spravlja v nesrečo, ker je bolj neprijazen do drugih in je potem na različne načine za to kaznovan. V budizmu jih tak odnos kaznuje v naslednjem življenju. V teističnih religijah jih kaznuje Bog ali kdo drug. V materializmu si misijo, da se temu izognejo, ko umrejo, toda v resnici se ne. In se ponovno rodijo v drugi obliki.
Never mind. I won't get into that. But the next step is called "universal responsibility." And that is very important -- the Charter of Compassion must lead us to develop through true compassion, what is called "universal responsibility." In the great teaching of his Holiness the Dalai Lama that he always teaches everywhere, he says that that is the common religion of humanity: kindness. But "kindness" means "universal responsibility." And that means whatever happens to other beings is happening to us: we are responsible for that, and we should take it and do whatever we can at whatever little level and small level that we can do it. We absolutely must do that. There is no way not to do it.
Pustimo to. V to se ne bomo spuščali. Naslednji korak se imenuje univerzalna odgovornost. To je zelo pomembno -- listina sočutja Karen Armstrong nam mora pomagati, da s principom pravega sočutja dosežemo raven vsesplošne odgovornosti. Enako učijo tudi modri nauki svetega dalajlame, da deli svoje nauke povsod in pravi, da je prijaznost vera, skupna celemu človeštvu. Toda prijaznost pomeni vsesplošno odgovornost. To pomeni, da karkoli se zgodi drugim bitjem, se zgodi tudi nam, tudi mi smo za to odgovorni, in moramo nalogo prevzeti ter storiti, karkoli lahko, tudi če je možnost za našo pomoč še tako omejena. To enostavno moramo storiti. Vedno obstaja možnost, da kaj storimo.
And then, finally, that leads to a new orientation in life where we live equally for ourselves and for others and we are joyful and happy. One thing we mustn't think is that compassion makes you miserable. Compassion makes you happy. The first person who is happy when you get great compassion is yourself, even if you haven't done anything yet for anybody else. Although, the change in your mind already does something for other beings: they can sense this new quality in yourself, and it helps them already, and gives them an example.
Končno nas to vodi v novo vodilo v našem življenju, kjer enakovredno živimo zase in za druge in se zavemo veselja drugih za nas -- potem smo veseli in srečni. Nikakor ne smemo misliti, da nas sočutje spravlja v obup. Sočutje osrečuje. Ko začutite sočutje do nekoga, ste najprej srečni vi sami, tudi ko za nekoga doslej niste še ničesar storili. Že sprememba vašega načina razmišljanja stori nekaj dobrega za druga bitja. Ona lahko to lastnost v vas začutijo. Že to jim pomaga in jim je za zgled.
And that uncompassionate clock has just showed me that it's all over.
Tista nesočutna ura pa mi je pokazala, da je vsega konec.
So, practice compassion, read the charter, disseminate it and develop it within yourself. Don't just think, "Well, I'm compassionate," or "I'm not compassionate," and sort of think you're stuck there. You can develop this. You can diminish the non-compassion, the cruelty, the callousness, the neglect of others, and take universal responsibility for them. And then, not only will God smile and the eternal mama will smile, but Karen Armstrong will smile.
Torej -- vadite sočutje, berite listino, širite njeno sporočilo in ga sprejmite kot vaše. Ne mislite si, da ste tako in tako omejeni, če ste sočutni ali ne. Sočutje lahko razvijete. Brezčutnost, krutost, zanemarjanje in brezbrižnost lahko zmanjšate. Prevzemite univerzalno odgovornost zanje in se ne bosta smehljala le Bog in večna mama, tudi Karen Armstrong se bo smehljala.
Thank you very much. (Applause)
Najlepša hvala.