Bits of wisdom

The Dalai Lama's teachings are not complex. He does not preach to the masses that they must become Buddhists in order to live a fulfilling life. Nor does he attempt to convince us that if we don't behave a certain way we will all burn in the inferno of hell. He does not push, or intimidate or create fear like many other religious leaders do. No, his Holiness is a humble man whose only wish is for the end to all suffering.
The topic for the talk I sat in on yesterday was personal peace. The message was simple. Basically The Dalai Lama and the other speakers spoke out the idea of compassion as the starting point for good will and peace. Compassion is not passive, it is not a feeling of pity or being able to relate to others' suffering. Rather compassion is a conscious effort to reach out to those who are less fortunate than you and to act in a genuine way to end suffering.
Actions are much harder to muster than thoughts. As I've touched on before, we humans think a lot and sometimes these thoughts can overshadow our desire to do something. Also, we live in a culture of "me" where many of us are moving about with blinders on looking out only for ourselves. But the Dalai Lama argues that this is what creates trouble. He very nicely broke it down to this, that as individuals we exist in various levels. For example I might say, I am Canadian, I am a Woman, I am a student etc. Which is all true, but people, myself included, often miss the most basic level: I am human. It is at this level that his Holiness urges us to view the world, because we are all human.
There is no distinction between mine and your "humanness." If we approach each and every person with the understanding that we share that commonality, compassion should come easily. It all makes sense to me. It's so easy to judge someone based on their profession, the appearance or any number of superficial qualities but underneath all of that they are no different than me. So why should I treat them as if they were? That's a little unfair and I'm as guilty as the next person of doing it. With awareness comes the ability to change, and that is was the speakers at the conference were attempting to do. They are trying to spread the message that until we move from the "me" mentality to the "we" mentality we will continue to run into problems.
Yes, at times that sounds a little Utopian, but I don't think any of them are delusional enough to believe that once this shift occurs everything will be perfect. Instead they believe that with a change in attitude we will be able to better deal with conflicts and adversity. One step at a time right?
So start with something simple. Live with the intention to do good and act on those intentions whenever you can.