Compassion as I understand it

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"โลกพระศรีอาริยอยู่แค่ปลายจมูก"
"The Maitreya Buddha's world is just at the tip of your nose" [1].

 -- The Buddhadasa Bhikkhu in this talk

I have come across some people who believe Buddhism to be an escapist or isolationist philosophy, due to its focus on inward-thinking and mental cultivation, but I believe that view comes from a key misunderstanding: that there is a separate you and a separate me.

Mindfulness and meditation seem like self-centered things, but when one reaches a certain level of clarity they'd understand that everyone's suffering is unavoidably connected. The separation is only arbitrary. Freeing one's own mind from suffering will also free it from causing the suffering of others. Once we're all free, we will no longer be driven by pettiness of you and me, yours and mine. We'll all care about each other as one. We will not do things that harm each other, because we love each other as we love ourselves. We will do this automatically, without needing any sense of justice or reward. Peace will come without picketing or protesting.

Is that not the most beautiful cause to devote one's life to?


[1] The Maitreya Buddha is the prophesized future Buddha who will lead the world to loving kindness. 
Seeing With the Eye of Dharma. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu (translated by Santikaro). pp 181. (or search the index for Mettaya).


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