Willie Nelson

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“It’s really so simple, and it all comes down to love.”  Willie Nelson

“Given human beings’ love of truth, justice, peace and freedom, creating a better, more compassionate world is a genuine possibility.”  Dalai Lama

Tuesday April 24, 2007 is an auspicious day for World Peace and our global human family as Maui has the honor of hosting His Holiness The XIV Dalai Lama who blesses us all with his insightful guidance and good humor. Compassion, the one basic human value essential for individual happiness and world peace resonates from his teaching.

“The purpose of life is to increase the warm heart.”  Dalai Lama

As social animals he explains, human beings depend on each other and we must consider everyone a part of us. We are brothers and sisters with the same rights who deserve and require respect. Our collective future depends on us fostering a feeling of compassion, love, caring and affection for all people by recognizing we are the same humanity. This practice begins in the individual and extends into the family, community and through the national and international levels.

We learn love and compassion from our mother through our biological connection. Later in life spiritual practices enhance and deepen these basic human values. Competition challenges our ability to practice love and compassion if we allow negativity to dominate our mind. Conflict arises if we handle problems using negative emotions.

The first step to diffuse extreme positions is to understand that everyone holds different ideas and even the individual changes their ideas from morning to evening, which leads to conflict between people. The next step focuses on looking for a wider perspective that takes the opposing ideas and synthesizes them to create a new idea. This new idea displaces the attachment to the “my idea” and “your idea” concept.

By equipping ourselves with the necessary and crucial values of compassion and calmness functioning as the source of our inner strength, we effectively handle all problems. Difficulty surfaces when we attempt to handle situations with anger, resentment, stress, hatred and frustration. Forgiveness and compassion foster peace of mind by allowing us to disagree without accruing negative feelings.

The Dalai Lama warns us not to take the position that whatever happens is normal. Just as we are aware that selecting appropriate food choices creates and improves physical health similar distinctions are necessary to enhance our mental health. A compassionate mind improves our well being through the practice of healthy and friendly communication. Anger creates frustration, which leads to ill health both physically and mentally.

Unless our inner view changes to embrace love and compassion while minimizing mental stress and frustration we will find it impossible to change the external world.

Our attitudes and actions function as examples demonstrating the teachings of love and compassion. Showing affection and caring highlights our inner values and influences those around us.

Ideas on the religious level and personal experiences of the layperson create conflict. Therefore non-attachment delivers a simple solution to the conflict by transcending the inherent biases of attachment.

The basic human values of compassion, love, caring and affection guide politics in a peaceful world. The use of force is out of date as a solution to the problems in today’s world and reveals the gap between elders and youth. Youth inherit the problems that the elders start and fixing the problems is the challenge for the next generation.

“All forms of violence, especially war, are totally unacceptable as means to settle disputes between and among nations, groups and persons.”  Dalai Lama

Awareness of an external reality and an internal reality are not mutually exclusive. The Dalai Lama hopes scientific research will embrace the value of working in a complimentary manner by focusing on the necessary external matters while simultaneously recognizing and cooperating with the inner world for a comprehensive understanding.

His last point focuses on moral responsibility. If a cause is just and worthy then it deserves pursuit even if not possible in a lifetime. This alone removes any cause for despair.

The Dalai Lama has three commitments.
1. Promote human values through meetings and discussions.
2. Promote religious harmony.
3. The Tibetan struggle.

My goal in writing this interpretation is to acknowledge my appreciation to the Dalai Lama for gracing us with his presence and sharing his sincere teachings. And to all who read this interpretation of his meeting here on Maui I hope you find value in my humble attempt to share what I understand. Any errors in my explanations are mine and do not reflect on the Dalai Lama or his teaching.

Peace and Aloha

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Tags: Dalai-Lama, Peace, Willie Nelson

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