The Right Thing

"In the face of war, social injustice, religious conflict, corporate greed, what difference can one person make? Why should one person even try to make a difference? The odds are so overwhelming. It's pointless."

Frankly, that doesn't matter. We do what is right simply because that is what it is—right.

I don't strike another person because I think that action will lead to the end of violence, but because not hitting another person is the right thing to do. I don't refrain from lying to my spouse because I think my actions will convince everyone to be honest, but because being truthful in any relationship is the right way to behave. I don't cheat a customer because I know he'll never find out and I get tired of having to work with all these foreigners, but because treating all people equally and with respect is the right way to interact with others.

And I refrain from wrongdoing, because even if no one finds out the harm I have done, even if my wrong actions have absolutely no effect on others or the world, what I might have done was simply wrong.

As Natural as Breathing

Everything is in a constant state of flux, ever-changing, continuously moving. In our comfort with the known and worry about the unknown, we often wish things would stay the way they are even when they are not ideal.

But the reality is that we cannot hold on to life and stop it from changing.

Breathe in and then hold your breath. Do not let it go, do not breathe out. How does this holding of your breath feel? In a matter of seconds, holding on to our breath becomes increasingly uncomfortable. At some point, we cannot help but expel that breath.

Just as we cannot hold on to our breath, we cannot keep change from occurring. Change is as natural as our breathing in and breathing out.

Always Changing

Rain falls,

wind blows,

plants bloom,

leaves mature

and are blown away;

these phenomena

are all interrelated

with causes and conditions,

are brought about by them,

and disappear

as the causes and conditions

change.

No Expectations

Compassion is the intention and capability to lessen suffering and, ultimately, to transform this suffering. When we adopt an awareness imbued with compassion, we seek to ease others’ pain. But in our wish to help, more often than not, we react emotionally and end up getting carried away by our feelings. At times we empathize so completely with what someone is going through that we subject ourselves to the same distress. So instead of one person suffering, there are now two miserable people!

Instead of reacting emotionally, we need to learn to temper our compassion with wisdom. Then we will know how to better help another help another. We will also realize that an individual’s circumstances are the result of past karmas. Therefore, it may well be next to impossible for us to improve another’s situation. This realization does not mean that we should stop caring about others or dismiss their difficulties as being their own fault. It means we understand that our wanting to alleviate their suffering may instead be of benefit to them in the future, in ways we cannot foresee.

So be compassionate, but do not focus on getting immediate positive results. Do not get wrapped up in egoistic thoughts, thinking that “I” can fix the problem. Without such expectations, we will not be disappointed or saddened when our attempts to help end in failure, or worse, aggravate the situation. We will not know how best to help if we fail to temper our compassion with wisdom. In other words, the person we want to help may not have the requisite conditions for us to do so.

When we stop focusing on immediate results and instead focus on just helping others, our compassion will ultimately be able to benefit all beings. By planting the seeds of compassion—the wish for all beings to be happy and free of suffering—we can be confident that we have indeed helped others.

A Heart Cannot Cry

The sound only lasted for a second or two, but it tore through the air with the sharpness of a knife piercing my heart. It was a cry of terror, a scream of recognition and fear. A cry of "How can this be happening?" Of "Why me!"

Of "Stop! I'm a mother!" And "Stop! I'm her child!"

My chest contracted and my heart pounded and I wanted to join the scream with my own "No!" But all I could do to help was to quickly chant, "Amituofo, Amituofo, Amituofo" and focus on those who were so terrified.

And then, as quickly as it began, the screaming was gone. It hadn't stopped, but only passed beyond my ears ability to catch it. But in my mind—in my heart—I still hear. And out there, the terror still exists. It will continue into the night, and into tomorrow, and the next day. Then exhausted, there will be one final, hoarse "No!" Then silence.

And although my mind understands, my heart still whispers "Why."

My mind replies, "Greed. And ignorance. Humans have the ability to live in harmony with their world, but they indulge themselves without thinking of the costs. They think they are special because they have technology and science and power."

And my heart wants to cry, but of course a heart cannot cry.

It can only quiver and remember the calm it knew a few minutes ago. Before I went to shut the front window, before I heard the screams, and before I looked out the window to see the pigs crammed into the truck that was taking them to be slaughtered. So people, with money and more power than they, can enjoy their bacon and pork as they mindlessly eat their breakfast and dinner.

And my heart and my mind hold each other, and together they chant "Amituofo, Amituofo, Amituofo."