The Force of Kindness

The Possibility of Kindness

We must realize, if tomorrow is going to look any better than today, that the currency for compassion isn’t what someone else does, right or wrong—it is the very fact that that person exists. Commitment to the possibility of kindness cannot be discarded as foolish or irrelevant, even in troubling times when we often can’t find easy answers. If we abandon the force of kindness as we confront cruelty, we won’t learn anything to take into tomorrow—not from history, not from one another, not from life.

- Sharon Salzberg, The Force of Kindness

www.tricycle.com/possibility-kindness

The Human Spirit of Reconciliation

This is from a book of daily wisdom that is composed of statements made by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It's called "The Path to Tranquility," and is compiled and edited by Renuka Singh.

One aspect of compassion is to respect others' rights and to respect others' views. That is the basis of reconciliation. The human spirit of reconciliation based on compassion is working deep down, whether the person really knows it or not.

Our basic human nature is gentleness; therefore, no matter how much we go through violence and other bad things, ultimately the proper solution is to return to human feeling and affection. So affection or compassion is not only a religious matter, but in our day-to-day life it is quite indispensable.

Think of Future Generations - The Dalai Lama

Via Harper's Magazine [linked]:

The Dalai Lama on the Duty to Earth and the Human Family


Bsod-nams-rgya-mtsho. The Three-Deity Mandala of Auspicious Beginning.

If humankind continues to approach its problems considering only temporary expediency, future generations will have to face tremendous difficulties. The global population is increasing, and our resources are being rapidly depleted. Look at the trees, for example. No one knows exactly what adverse effects massive deforestation will have on the climate, the soil, and global ecology as a whole. We are facing problems because people are concentrating only on their short-term, selfish interests, not thinking of the entire human family. They are not thinking of the earth and the long-term effects on universal life as a whole. If we of the present generation do not think about these now, future generations may not be able to cope with them.

–H.H. Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, A Human Approach to World Peace (2006)

www.dalailama.com