IN YOUR HEARTBEAT
In my travels as a teacher, I often speak to groups in diverse religious settings. These include Christian churches, Jewish synagogues, Islamic mosques, and Hindu or Buddhist temples. Some are mixed gatherings made up of people from all kinds of religious and cultural groups. Often I make it a point to begin my lectures with a message reminding my audience that we are all true equals on this planet.I usually say, "For a moment, let's put aside our religious and other identities and personal beliefs. Let us recognize that first we are all human beings, and only next come our personal beliefs or identities. We have gathered here to share the truth and explore spiritual wisdom that will help all of us realize our common goal to find happiness and live in peace. In this moment, let us remind ourselves that we are all human beings whose hearts need to be nurtured."
In spite of all the knowledge that we have accumulated in the arts and sciences and the technological progress we have made, we have much work to do to realize that we are all members of one family. We need to expand our hearts so that we can love, care for, and show compassion to all people who inhabit this planet of ours.
Nature makes us all equal in human worth, and it is only biological or survival needs (such as the dark skin color of those whose ancestors had to cope with intense sun) that make us look different. It is ego that causes people to take these differences and label others as either superior or inferior.
We are divided by color, class, nationality, and race. We are divided by language, wealth, and religion. Nature's gift of diversity among human beings, which adds magnificent beauty to the human community, has been wrongfully used for perverted applications such as discrimination and war.
Our spiritual journey requires that we take bold and brave steps to look beyond society-defined reality and see the truth of oneness. Let us always remind ourselves that we belong to only one race, the human race. Let us step beyond the external differences and look into people's hearts and minds, to see that everyone really is the same.
Here again we can learn an important lesson from children. Human babies come to this earth having pure, unadulterated minds. Unlike adults, they do not carry judgmental attitudes, dogmas, labels, mistrust, and fears that produce discriminatory attitudes. In my travels around the world, I have held babies of all kinds - black, white, Asian. The emotional warmth that they provide is so pure that one can only respond to them with love and care.
Observe how very young children of different backgrounds relate to one another when they are together. Because barriers such as color, nationality, race, and sex are not part of a child's world, their togetherness is one of purity. To any objective observer, the way children interact among themselves would undoubtedly be the ideal model of harmonious coexistence. Their harmony is due to accepting things as they are; in other words, they do not wish that the other person be like them.
Why can't adults live in harmony like children? As we discussed in the first chapter, it's because as we grew up we were exposed to various forms of mental pollution within the family and at different societal levels. In the process, the natural instinct to live harmoniously was replaced by various man-made prejudices based on nationality, skin color, language, and the like.
There is a wonderful lesson that we adults can learn from children: the need to shed those acquired prejudices, which are based on trivial superficialities, and begin to relate to one another as human beings with the same essence, the same inner beauty.
Text: Bhante Y. Wimala - Lessons of The Lotus
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The above was first posted back in February of 2006. Were you here? :-) I was re-reading the book last night and it made me smile. I believe that was the first book on Buddhism I've ever read... and it's been a fantastic journey since. Anyway, I've turned off the comments, for I'm thinking around early May I should be done with this blog. A new life awaits... Have a great day everyone!! xoxo
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Currently listening:
Thomas Otten - A Quiet Moment
