The Dalai Lama spoke in Central Park yesterday……
….and I got to see him speak.
I find it amazing how someone from a small third world country who practices an ancient religion can speak so eloquently on modern world affairs in one of the largest industrial nations. He says such simple, profound things that most reasonably intelligent people already know but fail to apply to their daily lives.
For example, he was talking about 9/11 and while not trivializing it he did put it into perspective - he pointed out that while it was certainly a terrible loss of life it was very small compared to what other countries lose to starvation and war on a monthly basis. He went on to use it as an example of how to deal with tragedy and difficult situations in general. I’ll try to quote from memory:
“After a tragedy if there is something you can do there is no need to be overwhelmed. If there is nothing you can do there is no point in being overwhelmed.”
These words are so true on a daily basis and serve to almost immediately short-circuit panic, fear, anxiety and frustration if kept in mind.
If there is something you can do about a situation, do it. Don’t let things get away from you with what ifs and speculation. Focus. Do what you can right now and be satisfied.
If a situation is wholly out of your control let it go. Your mental energy is better spent on action where it is needed than on idle thoughts that you know will ultimately be futile.
The hard part is suppressing one’s ego enough to have the wisdom to determine when something can or cannot be done. Relinquishing control is the single most difficult thing for most people to do.
He also spoke about compassion and how simply being mindful of other people and actually seeing them as human beings and not objects can contribute to peace.
We tend to tune the daily news out and fail to connect with the fact that it is real. As bad as 9/11 was the things that we hear about in Israel, Palestine, Iraq, etc… are real and happen every day. Those are actual people we are hearing stories about. Logically we know this and see it as apparent but fail to apply this when actually listening to the news. Next time, try to picture the people and their lives and empathize with them.
To illustrate this he wondered about any sentient beings who may be able to see us. He said that if they exist they must be very confused as to why members of the same species treat eachother the way they do. Another quote (more or less) from memory:
“…. those people starving in Africa… people dying in wars. Same people. Same brothers. Same planet.”
Powerful words.
Whew. Did I mention that it took me forever to actually get into the park and that I was only able to hear the last 20 minutes of his 1.5 hour talk? That’s a lot to get out of 20 minutes. Hopefully I’ll have the strength and courage to remember and apply what I already knew but needed to be reminded of.