Sometimes in a passing moment, we feel inspired, profoundly touched, and close to our one great truth. I experienced such a moment yesterday.
Many years ago, I watched the movie, Seven years in Tibet. I know, thinking back that it was an important movie but like many other things in life, I had forgotten the story line, the details etc. Yesterday, I felt like watching a movie but wasn’t in the mood for most subjects. I scrolled through many titles on Netflix and not one touched a cord with me. Seeing the cover of Seven years in Tibet somehow felt right for the mood I was in.
I watched the entire film and felt moved by one scene in particular, so much so that it made me feel like I suddenly changed tracks on the path of life. In this scene, the Dalai Lama asks Brad Pitt’s character what he loves about mountain climbing. Brad Pitt says he loves the absolute simplicity, how the mind is freed from all confusion, becomes clear and is in focus, the light becomes sharper, the sounds are richer and you are filled with the deep powerful presence of life; “I’ve only felt that way one other time”, he says. The Dalai Lama asks, “when” and Brad replies, “in your presence Kungo.”, he says referring to the young Dalai Lama. That exchange touched me to my core. Everything else became buoyant in that moment, light filled and somehow explicable. The struggles we feel in life and how we are always looking for the meaning of the struggles (the why) and how we are looking for the solutions to those struggles ( the how), suddenly felt resolvable. It is what I needed to look to. A presence in which all other voices quieten…
I finished out the movie, then looked for the teachings of the Dalai Lama on the web and came upon the 25 teachings of the 14th Dalai Lama http://influence.techmazic.com/peaceful-teachings-of-dalai-lama/. I read through those simple statements of wisdom and read over some of them again and again. They spoke to me, simply, effectively, and with great emphasis. All other voices quietened. Two words resonated with me at a deeper level than all others: kindness and compassion. Below are some of the teachings found at the aforementioned website that embody the feeling And essence I hope to thread through my being. Clearly, the concepts are simple and perhaps even ones we are familiar with and we feel we know, but to inhabit your being within these words, such that they flow through us in our actions, ceaselessly circulate through our minds, in our hearts and with every movement or thought towards all human beings, that is what I hope to work towards and some day hope to achieve, in my remaining time.
It is a tall order but one can always hope and one can try. ❤️
2. “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive”
~14th Dalai Lama
3. “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion”
~14th Dalai Lama
4. “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible”
~14th Dalai Lama
12. “When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace”
~14th Dalai Lama
22. “A truly compassionate attitude toward others does not change even if they behave negatively or hurt you”
~14th Dalai Lama
