14/5/2012
Your happiness is my happiness. The Dalai Lama was presented with the Templeton Prize for exceptional contributions to spiritual life and I was privileged to be part of today’s award ceremony. It was an extraordinary event for any number of reasons, from the beauty of St Paul’s Cathedral and the majestic choral contributions to the informal, inclusive nature of the Dalia Lama’s speech and the numbers of exiled Tibetans visibly moved by his presence. They weren’t the only ones to be moved. The Dalai Lama is the manifestation of compassion, what we in the West might call a demi-god yet here he was, two feet from us, waving and saying hello like your uncle Bob.
His unprepared speech was filled with playfulness, ease and the insistence that he really is like your uncle Bob or rather, your brother. “I am just one of 7 billion people. We are all brothers and sisters.” He spoke about the central importance of connection with others; the undeniability of interdependence between people, all sentient beings and the environment; non-violent relationships with enemies (great that we’re allowed to have enemies) and the link between personal happiness and the development of love and compassion for others. Neuroscience confirms this 12th Century philosophy: the prefrontal cortex of meditators light up when they focus on compassion, the same area of the brain concerned with feelings of wellbeing, joy, contentment. If you want to be happy concentrate on the happiness of others. For me, the message that stood out was that of Self Confidence. For the British having self-confidence is equated with being an arrogant oaf but for the Dalai Lama self-confidence is simply a matter of avoiding excess. Don’t be excessive in your pride or in underestimating your abilities and good qualities. It’s a very clear-eyed, logical approach to mental health. Here’s the Buddhist prayer from the Templeton Prize programme. Read it and, just for those moments, mean it. See how you feel afterwards: that’s your prefrontal cortex drenching you in feelings of wellbeing when you wish wellbeing for others. May all beings everywhere Plagued by sufferings of body and mind Obtain an ocean of happiness and joy By virtue of my merits. May no living creatures suffer, Commit evil, or ever fall ill. May no one be afraid or belittled, With a mind weighed down by depression. May the blind see forms And the deaf hear sounds, May those whose bodies are worn with toil Be restored on finding repose. May the naked find clothing, The hungry find food; May the thirsty find water And delicious drinks. May the poor find wealth, Those weak with sorrow find joy; May the forlorn find hope, Constant happiness, and prosperity. May there be timely rains And bountiful harvests; May all medicines be effective And wholesome prayers bear fruit. May all who are sick and ill Quickly be freed from their ailments. Whatever diseases there are in the world, May they never occur again. May the frightened cease to be afraid And those bound be freed; May the powerless find power, And may people think of benefiting each other. For as long as space remains, For as long as sentient beings remain, Until then may I too remain To dispel the miseries of the world. From A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life by Shantideva. |
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July 2020
CategoriesAll Abandonment Abuse Ancestors Anger Anxiety Ash Wednesday Attitude Banking Bereavement Birthday Bravery Breivik Bystander Effect Camila Batmanghelidjh Carnival Cbt Challenger Charlotte Bevan Childbirth Childhood Children Christmas Coaching Compassion Contemplation Control Counselling COVID 19 Culture Dalai Lama Death Death Cafe Democracy Denial Depression Domestic Violence Dying Eap Earth Day Empathy Employment Eric Klinenberg Ethics Exams Existential Failure Family Annihilation Fear Founders Syndrome Francis Report Gay Cure Genocide George Lyward Goldman Sachs Good Death Greg Smith Grief Grieving Grooming Groupthink Happiness Hate Hungary Illness Interconnectedness Jason Mihalko Jubilee Kids Company Kitty Genovese Life Light Living Loneliness Love Mandatory Reporting Meaning Men Mental Health Mid Staffs Mindfulness Money Mothers New Year Nigella Lawson Optimism Organisational Collapse Oxford Abuse Panama Papers Panic Panic Attacks Parenthood Petruska Clarkson Pleasure Politics Positivity Post Natal Depression Power Priorities Priority Productivity Psychotherapy Ptsd Red Tent Reflection Rena Resilience Riots Rites Of Passage Ritual Robin Williams Sad Sales Savile Scared Seasonal Affective Disorder Self Care Self Preservation Self-preservation Shock Sin Singletons Sport Spring Status St David St Georges Day Stress Suarez Suicide Support Talking Terry Pratchett Time Transition Trauma True Self Truth Understanding Unemployment Valentines Day Viktor Frankl Violence Whistleblowing Who Am I Winter Blues Women Work |