The Power of Compassion: A Collection of Lectures

Оглавление

Литагент HarperCollins USD. The Power of Compassion: A Collection of Lectures

THE POWER. OF COMPASSION

Translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa

Table of Contents

PREFACE

ONE CONTENTMENT, JOY AND LIVING WELL

TWO FACING DEATH AND DYING WELL

THREE DEALING WITH ANGER AND EMOTION

FOUR GIVING AND RECEIVING:A Practical Way of Directing Love and Compassion

FIVE INTERDEPENDENCE, INTER-CONNECTEDNESS AND THE NATURE OF REALITY

SIX THE CHALLENGE FOR HUMANITY:An Interfaith Address

SEVEN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSOn Various Problem’s of the Modern Age

ON HUMAN EMOTIONS

ON BUDDHISM

ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF DEATH AND DYING

ON THE SITUATION IN TIBET

Copyright

About the Publisher

Отрывок из книги

A Collection of Lectures byHis Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama

Title Page

.....

The sense of contentment is a key factor for attaining happiness. Bodily health, material wealth and companions and friends are three factors for happiness. Contentment is the key that will determine the outcome of your relations with all three of these factors.

First, with regard to the body, one can see that too much attachment to one’s own body sometimes leads to problems. For that reason, Buddhist training looks at the body from a different angle and tries to analyse the nature of the body. To me, thinking along these lines is very useful. I think about the source of my body and the very nature of blood, bones and flesh. The body is not something pure. Even the act of birth is bloody. Also, no matter how beautiful or polished your body appears on the outside, inside there are still a lot of dirty things. With the covering of skin, the human body sometimes looks very beautiful. But if you look more closely, then this body is really quite horrible! Even though we consume good food, with a nice colour, taste and smell, the food is transformed into dirty things. Yet if we try to remove these dirty aspects of the body we cannot survive. And this is the case not only for other people’s bodies, but one’s own body too. Most importantly, it is because of our bodies that we have illness, old age, pain and death. Yet despite these faults, the body is very precious because of intelligence, which we can use for many great works. Thus, when one’s desire or attachment to one’s body becomes extreme, it is very effective to meditate on the impure aspects of the body, particularly to reflect on its source, its constitution and its functions, so that one will have a more realistic and moderate outlook on the body.

.....