Archive Result

Soundfile 20051130GRNLCom01

Speaker Gelek Rimpoche

Location Nijmegen, NL

Topic Compassion

Transcriber Glenn Powers

Date 2020-10-08

[dutch]

The subject I have been asked to talk tonight is compassion. [dutch] Also, specifically, the power of compassion. So, what I would like to talk to you tonight is as follows: point one, what is compassion? point two, what does compassion have to do with me in downtown Nijmegen? point three, what is the real power of compassion and is it relevant for me in the west or is it just an Asian, old, ancient story? point four, how can I use it? [dutch] 0:01:45.4

Now the question comes, what really is compassion? A lot of people get confusion between compassion and love and compassion itself. [dutch] To my understanding, compassion and love are both one mind. But, two different aspects of it. One aspect emphasized wishing to be free from the suffering, whatever pains and suffering people are having, wishing to be free of that is that the aspects of compassion. [dutch] 0:03:21.8 Love is the same mind. The aspects of it, wishing to remain or to have happy, joy of whoever the person may be. [dutch] So, both are very, very close. Very close. But, slightly different. One mind, with two different aspects of it. [dutch]

Now, compassion wishes to be free from the pain. For example, when we see people are suffering, people are suffering, and we have the feeling within our self we associate our self with the person who is going through a pain and sufferings. We wish them to be free of that pain. [That] is the true compassion. 0:04:47.5 [dutch]

For example, today there are a lot of sufferings and pains going in the world. Number one, there is tremendous pain, people are dying and the war in Iraq as well as a lot of other places. There are natural disasters, such as earthquake problem in Kashmir, Pakistan side of the Kashmir. There’s famine in Africa. There’s a tremendous amount of pain everywhere else, sufferings everywhere else. 0:06:01.7 [dutch] Many of them are man made. Particularity the war in Iraq is unnecessary, in my opinion, it’s unnecessary war. We talk about 2,110 Americans dead. But, how many hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead? No body talk about it. [dutch] We are using the word dead, that is suffering. Lost what you had. Most precious thing what we have. Can you imaging? Think about our self. Loosing our own life. [dutch]

When we don’t think about our self and loosing a life we think about Iraqis dying here. So, it becomes disassociated with our self and it is something else. [dutch] When it’s disassociated, then it’s not really compassion. Because, you do’t feel it. [dutch] 0:08:45.5 Compassion is a feeling. Compassion is experiencing. Without feeling, without experiencing, then it comes like a parrot that says all kinds of things. Doesn’t mean anything, as long as you get some good nuts. Parrot can say anything. [dutch] We have to feel it. Compassion is just not a dry, academic subject. Compassion is a feeling from the heart. If you don’t feel compassion, as good as not having compassion. [dutch] Same as love, we all know. As a matter of fact, we are experts of love. [dutch] When we don’t feel it, we say, “Eh. It’s gone.” Don’t we? [dutch] 0:10:26.4

Mind you, as I told you earlier, it’s one mind with two different aspects. If the love is a feeling and experience, then compassion has to be feeling and experience. [dutch] Why compassion is so great, so great, because it feels, it associates with the suffering of the people. It really feels, that’s why it’s great. The greatness of the compassion, because it feels. [dutch] So, when we see these sufferings, when we see those pains, what’s going on today, we must feel, we should feel it. As we begin to see more when we have a problem within our own family, within our own country, we feel much more closer pain then that of whatever is happening.

For example, like the Netherlands is such a great country, as far as I know, it was beautiful, peaceful, wonderful. I’ve been coming here two decades, almost. It is the most wonderful, clean, beautiful, kind, great country. Never heard about murder, political murder, except last two or three years. Beginning with that professor. What’s his name? Bin Putan or something. 0:12:32.6 Then, the journalist in Amsterdam. Now, here in Nijmegen, the activist. When this thing comes closer and how you feel closely by yourself. Watch your own mind. Watch your own heart, how you feel it. [dutch]

I was just thinking, I said I’ve been here like two decades. But, it is embarrassing to know that I don’t speak a word of Dutch. Except “veel gelek” 0:13:57.3 as well as “dung well.” That’s all I know. So, that’s one word for a decade. [dutch] “Veel gelek” because it is associated with my name. So, I remember. [dutch] Anyway, that’s what I’m saying. When you come, problems, sufferings closer, we feel much more closer. When it is distance, we feel distance. That’s how you measure your own compassion, how strong it is. [dutch] The distance, you feel less. Because, you don’t have love. [dutch] Less love. That’s why you feel less. When there’s more closeness, more love involved, you feel more. [dutch] So, that’s why I told you earlier, love and compassion is one mind. [dutch] When the love is strong, the compassion will be strong. When the love is weak, compassion will be weak. [dutch] Both compassion and love is caring. When we don’t care, then you have nothing. No love. No compassion. [dutch] So, you know yourself. You know it. You have it. You care, you have love, you have compassion. When you see people suffering, you can get pain, experience almost by yourself. Almost unbearable level, you can go and see and feel it. [dutch] 0:17:23.2

So, this is my first point. What is compassion? It is all about it. Compassion is caring. Not only just caring, not only just caring. It’s almost like my personal problem. I’m sort of totally dedicated in deed to sort of carry on what I need to do. That is compassion is all about. [dutch] Compassion is such a thing that many great religions in the world, whether is Judea-Christian tradition or Hindu-Buddhist tradition, whatever it may be and they really bring that out. Bring the life throughout and bring to the people. Draw the compassion of the people by that religion, that’s what they do, as you all know. [dutch] 0:19:01.9

But, in my case, whatever you have heard about compassion and whatever you are going to hear this hour or afternoon, whatever, evening. It is the 2,600 years wisdom that Buddha shared to us. [dutch] Now, the second point. What has that got to do with me in downtown Nijmegen? [dutch] So, each and everyone of us, whether it is in your own family or whether it is on your city or village or country, where ever. If you have no caring, no love, no compassion, we consider that person is cold. [dutch] Yes, human beings are great. Every human being is fantastic. Human capacity is, you know, beyond imagine. It is our mind that has limitless capability. Wonderful, the human life is.

However, there are aware, cold human beings, too. We don’t have to look very far. Look into our neighbor, Germany, in last century or century before that. We see what a cold human being can do. Hitler is a vivid example coldness of a human being can do. [dutch] 0:21:53.4

You take one step beyond Germany and what Stalin has done. Look in Russia, Stalin. [dutch] Then you go one step more, towards China, you see what lately, what chairman Mao has done. [dutch] These are the vivid example of coldness within the human beings, coldness and selfishness. [dutch] So, you don’t care what happens to all others. You simply wanted me to be head of everybody else, my to be better than everybody else. That’s called narrow selfishness. [dutch] Narrow selfishness looks like I’m going to put ahead, I’m going to be better. But, it never prevails. Never succeed. [dutch] 0:24:07.9

When Hitler was in power, I’m not giving you a lecture on your history. But, it took half-day to cross Netherlands. Took over Netherlands in half a day, after the bridge. [dutch] Did not prevail. What happened to Germany in the end? Divided into two. Now, greatly, they combine together. Until then, that is the consequences. [dutch] Look at what happened to Stalin. [dutch] Where has Soviet Union gone? So, all this. Look at chairman Mao. The next generation already rule over his ideas and thesis, everything. [dutch] So, not caring, cold for people’s feeling never prevails. Looks like it prevails. But, never. [dutch] 0:25:45.3

Look on the other hand. Caring and loving about the people. Look at Mahatma Gandhi in India. [dutch] It is almost impossible to challenge British Empire at that time. Those of you about old as me, you will know when I say, “Sun never set on the crown of England.” That was the time the British was everywhere, southeast, northwest, everywhere, it is British territory. So, the sun never set on the crown of England. So, that sort of powerful empire. Gandhi, who is just a poor man, nothing but a little doti 0:26:43.0 on hist butt, that’s to cover up, and a little stick, challenged. [dutch]

The secret weapon, what Gandhi had, against such a power is nothing but compassion and caring. [dutch] That repeated by Mother Theresa. [dutch] That repeated by Nelson Mandela. [dutch] That repeated by Doctor Martin Luther King. And, His Holiness the Dali Lama, today following that path. [dutch] Not yet succeeded. But, on the way. So, all that is the non-violence, caring and love and concern the well being of human beings. [dutch]

So, here you have examples. Example of Hitler and so and forth and example of Gandhi and so and forth. Now, choice is yours. You can make use of it, even in downtown Nijmegen. [dutch] Each and everyone of is capable of using, developing compassion, using compassion. [dutch] Each and everyone of you have compassion. You are a wonderful human beings. [dutch] You are a kind person. You are a compassionate person. You are not cold person. You are warm. [dutch] You’re not devil. Honestly. You have what we call, what Buddhists call, buddha nature within you. [dutch] So, that means compassion is with you. You just have to bring that up. [dutch] Nurture it. Fully grow. Make best use of it. That’s your best protection. That’s your best weapon. That’s what you can do in downtown Nijmegen. [dutch] 0:31:26.7

We are told by the Buddha, compassion brings happiness. Hatred brings suffering. 2,600 years ago, those great people felt that, experienced that and they told us, they gave the message continuously up to today. [dutch] Out of that, what we know for sure is hatred brings suffering. Because, hatred brings violence. Violence brings more violence. [dutch] More violence brings more lives looses. When you loose more lives, the family is broken. The children do’t get support. Of course, dying person is on top of it. [dutch] And, the country goes completely chaotic. You have experience, it is and old, ancient country, Europe. You have gone through a tremendous amount of history. You know it for sure. [dutch] History is one part. But, today we see what is happening in Iraq. [dutch] The country is completely most dangerous place in the world today. [dutch] There’s, I don’t know, 150,000 American soldiers. Plus, even the Netherlands has people there. Right? [dutch] 0:34:57.8

Your prime minister, Harry Potter, is kind enough to send the peace loving Dutch into Iraq with guns. [dutch] I’m sorry to say that. But, you know. Dutch is really example of peace and open mind and wonderfulness. When I saw the listed of countries sending the soldiers to Iraq, when I saw Netherlands, I didn’t even believe it. But, that is the work of Harry Potter. [dutch] That is the vivid example of violence brings violence. In Iraq, there’s that much soldier there and yet how many those insert 0:36:28.2 here and there. Never ending. [dutch]

On the other hand, think about it. As a human being, no one can tell anyone else do something other than what you wanted to do. We will resist. We will fight. That is human nature. Someone tells you, “You can’t sit straight, you have to sit upside down.” Who’s going to listen to that? No one. [dutch] 0:37:36.0

You know, I remained under the communist control in Tibet up to when I was twenty. [dutch] Those communists have that rule saying you can’t do this, you can’t do that, you can’t walk this way, you have to do this, you do this, you do that. They have a lot of this do this, do that business, just like here the ambulance. [dutch] When I am a little kid, you know what I used to do? I used to put my fist under the robe. [dutch] So, honestly, that is how human beings work. [dutch] If you want people to listen to you, if you want people to do, you have to win their heart. You can’t win the heart under the barrel of a gun. 0:39:01.9 You can not. Who else going to listen under the barrel of gun? You’re just afraid, so you say, “Yes, yes, yes.” That doesn’t mean, “yes.” You may just be saying, “yes” from your mouth. But, you may be thinking, “No, no, no” in your heart. That is how human beings function. [dutch] That’s exactly what it means, love and compassion brings joy. [dutch]

A few years ago, the year, I think, is the beginning of 2002, January. I went to India. [dutch] The day when I reach in Deli, I received a phone call from an old friend of mine, another Rimpoche. [dutch] He said, “I heard you were here. So, why don’t you come to the conference. We are having a conference today.” I said, “ I will come in the afternoon.” [dutch] When I went there, they said, “Conference: Compassion as the antidote to terrorism.” [dutch] It was little surprise to me. I must say, I come from America, at that time, one year after 9/11. So, all this terrorism, pre-preemptives going on television and radio 24 hours a day. Certainly, “compassion as the antidote to terrorism” just doesn’t make sense to me. That’s how even people can change. [dutch] 0:41:59.7

When I entered the conference, one speaker after another speaker, those people who worked with Gandhi, each one of the, one after another, speaking, saying it is the path, it is the mind that matters. Mind cannot be shoot down by guns. Mind can only warm by love and compassion. They are really right. [dutch] True antidote of terrorism is the compassion. It is the kindness, love and caring that one person to another person, exchanging and giving education and opening in their mind a winning heart of terrorism is the true antidote. [dutch] Other than that, by killing is not going to work. We have kill hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. They give you an estimated 100,000 civilians die in Iraq. What about other people who are really fighting? Hundreds of thousands of them killed. Still, insurgents are still going on. Truly, it is love and compassion and understanding, education, that will make difference. [dutch]

During the break time, one lady came up and asked me a question. Yes, it is true. You can give love and compassion, give and give. But, don’t you have to have it to yourself, too? Very true. Excellent question. Thank you. [dutch] 0:45:41.1

First and foremost, we must have compassion for our self. [dutch] If you don’t care for yourself, who else is going to care for you? [dutch] In order to give something to others, you must also have it. [dutch] Caring yourself and compassion to yourself is a human nature. As a matter of fact, not only a human, even the animals, insects, each and everyone of them care, really care, for themselves, lot. [dutch] So, we must have that. [dutch] But, we must have the right one. Not the wrong way, the right way. [dutch] Right way is the way of compassion. [dutch] The wrong way is the way of narrow self interest. [dutch] Which we call Ego, “Ego’s Way.” [dutch] Ego thinks I’m the most important one. [dutch] Only me, nobody else. [dutch] I get it or nobody else will get it. [dutch] So, when these thoughts popping up in your head, you remember: this is ego talking, not you, as good person. [dutch] 0:48:28.1

So, now the point is: what can I do for myself by compassion and for others by compassion? [dutch] As I said earlier, looking back in the history, what the narrow self interests have done and what the compassion and non-violence has done. [dutch] The history is guidance for future. It is guideline. [dutch] Know that, taking advantage of our wonderful mind and remember the way of the compassion is the way to the happiness. [dutch] Earlier, I told you, when we know it clearly, violence brings violence and it brings suffering. [dutch] We also showed you, historically, little bit, how compassion and love brings giving example of Gandhi and Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela and so and forth. [dutch] 0:50:37.5

You may think, okay, that’s fine, but we’re in the age of science. There is nothing of the scientific thing about the compassion brings happiness. Is there? [dutch] What I have heard, and I have even attended a couple of conferences, along with those great scientists. Scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), or from Harvard and other great universities, the great many scientists today, that is not the psychologists alone, physicists, neurologists, biochemists, those ones. Even the nuclear sciences, now looking into the brain activity and mind activities. [dutch] 0:52:47.9

What I was told, is what they literally, physically, can’t find is when they make the people meditate on compassion, particularity they use experienced mediators as guinea pig. [dutch] They are putting them through MRI for four, five hours. Letting them meditate on the different things, such as imagery. [dutch] Or, other visualizations. Or, simple concentration. That is what we know in the west as meditation. Simple focusing, concentration. [dutch] And, meditation on compassion. Meditation on compassion, they say, some kind of brain thing, brain wave activity called cortex or something. They have this movement of the happy side of the brain and the disturbing side of the brain and that cortex moves. When they are meditating on compassion, it moves quite to the extent of the happy side. Then, while they are meditating, while they are in MRI, they will suddenly put the sound of a woman screaming something or a child crying and screaming something and then they watch, how does that movement work? It was said, the meditation on compassion is really showing that cortex moves too close, lot of closer to the happiness rather than sad. [dutch] 0:55:56.7

That is the reason why His Holiness the Dali Lama is very much respected by the scientists in their scientific field and their work, rather than just a religious leader. [dutch] Just this month, November itself, he was invited by the neurologists and biochemists to address their assembly in Washington, D.C., where 17,000 scientists attended. [dutch] Despite the Chinese objections, official objections, protests and all that. [dutch] So, if a group of scientists are saying it, there are critics as well. But, when the scientists really confirms that’s what’s happening, then it is for the first time, we have scientific proof that what Buddha said 2,600 years ago is now proven by the scientists, even the science basis. [dutch] That is the power of compassion for you. [dutch] I think I said enough. Scientifically, that is what is showing.

We don’t have to talk about religion-wise, we all know. Even normal work, like Gandhi, Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela and all of them, Doctor Martin Luther King, and all of them, are the power of compassion that made it success. [dutch] When it works for those people, it will work for us, too. [dutch] You may not think it is Tibetan story, it works for Tibetans, but it doesn’t work for Westerners. [dutch] Mother Theresa, not Tibetan, it is Caucasian. Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King are not Tibetan, he’s African. [dutch] So, it works with white. It works with black. It works with yellow. [dutch] So, it will definitely work with us. [dutch] 1:00:20.9

Before I conclude, I’m supposed to throw some question and answer. I should shut my mouth and listen to you. [dutch] I don’t see any hand, I don’t know what that means. [dutch] Anyway, what I normally say, when I don’t see hand, we close shop. So, before I close the shop, I like to conclude. [dutch] At the beginning, I said a few points: what is compassion, what has that got to do with me in downtown Nijmgen, how can I use it and one more I even forgot. So, anyway, all these points, each one of them, I have addressed. I said what is compassion, the compassion is caring, compassion is love, compassion is concern, compassion is really caring. So, that is really what compassion is all about it. [dutch] 1:02:46.6

What can compassion do for me in downtown Nijmegen? I said, if you share compassion with the people, if you care for the people, if you care for yourself, then you begin to help yourself, you begin to help others and that brings joy and happiness to you. That’s what you can do with compassion in downtown Nijmegen. [dutch]

What is the power of compassion? We talked to you the historical point. We talked to you the scientific point. That is what power of compassion is for you. [dutch] 1:04:14.0

Who can access to that power and who can do it? You can do it. The white, the black, the yellow and everybody can do it. [dutch] I also said, each and everyone of us have the seed of compassion. [dutch] It is the matter of developing that. [dutch] Compassion is non-violence nature. [dutch] Non-violence is the tolerance. [dutch] Tolerance is applied to everywhere, not only between the nations and groups. Tolerance is within our family, between the spouses, between the children and parents, between the neighbors, between the colleagues in the office, between all of those, each and everyone of us. When you are looking at it, people have difficulties, people have hard times. We do work so much, particularly in the western culture, it is competition driven. I’m sorry to say it is really competition between person to person. So much competition. There’s competition driven, there’s tremendous stress. When there is stress, they will show you some different difficulties. It is for you to pick up your tolerance. That’s your opportunity to learn and practice your tolerance and your compassion and your caring. [dutch] 1:07:09.0

If you want happiness, if you want to be happy, compassion is your key. [dutch] If you want happy family, compassion is your key. [dutch] If you want happy country, compassion is your key. [dutch] If you want peace in the world, compassion is your key. [dutch] If you don’t want terrorists, compassion is your key. [dutch] That is the best. That is not expensive. Compassion doesn’t actually cost anything. [dutch] It is way of thinking. [dutch] Way of making up your mind. [dutch] So, we all can do it. [dutch] I urge you all to do it. [dutch] Because, we want happiness. [dutch] We don’t want sadness, sorrowfulness and difficulties. [dutch]

Then, there is another way of doing compassion, is through meditation. [dutch] If you’re not allergic for meditation, I would like to do a little meditation for the conclusion. [dutch] 1:09:14.0 If you are allergic, you don’t have to meditate, just watch it. My late friend, Allen Ginsberg, wrote a poetry, saying “If you don’t know how to meditate, sit on the ground; if the ground is not there, sit on the chair.” First thing to do is to keep your backbone straight. That’s what it is. [dutch]

So, the beginning of the meditation is relaxing your mind. [dutch] The stress that you carry, the difficulties that you carry, all let it go out of you, out of your system while you are exhaling the breath through your nostril. [dutch] All the joy, relaxation and happiness, all take in while you are inhaling. [dutch] Make yourself happy and joy. [dutch] Also, you take our joy, our happiness, our compassion, our love, while you are exhaling our breath and reach first to our family and then everyone near and dear and every being, every living being, every human beings. Make them happy by giving our love, compassion and joy. [dutch] 1:12:11.7

First, we wish our self happiness and we wish our family happiness. [dutch] The whole country. The whole Europe. Everyone else in the world, we wish them happy. [dutch] We wish all sentient beings, may all beings be free of suffering and joyful. [dutch] May all beings remain in that joyness that we all like to share. [dutch] May all beings maintain great, divine, connections. [dutch] Our wishes goes through, reach to everybody in this world. Particularly those who are suffering through war, through shortages of food, illnesses, everything may be free and remain joy. [dutch] It is all done because of you, because of your thoughts, because of your wishes. So, you be happy about it. [dutch] 1:15:01.8

That is beginning of compassion meditation. Compassion is very limitless. It is very deep. Very profound. So many layers to pick up. [dutch] Buddha was really outstanding on the compassion. [dutch] It is not the religion. We are not talking about whether Buddhism or Judea-Christian or not. I think we are going beyond that walls and boundaries of religions and it’s labels. Going beyond and seeing the need of the people and the service of the people. Help of the people. We just generally pick up compassion as a way beyond religion’s boundary. Commonly, something that everybody without committing to be any specific religions can do it. [dutch]

We in Jewel Heart, here in the Netherlands, try to offer that. [dutch] It is right here, anyone is welcome, does not have to be Buddhist at all. [dutch] To learn about compassion, to learn about love and to have a divine connection. That’s what we promote, too. [dutch] I would like to thank to everybody for coming tonight. Some of you have come a little far away, some of you are here. Really, thank you so much. Thank you for the members of the Jewel Heart and everybody for making that possible. [dutch] Thank you. 1:18:20.6 [Thanks from announcer.]