At The Feet Of A Master

My family and I were blessed to be able to be able to go to
Ann Arbor and see His Holiness the Dalai Lama (HHDL) over the
weekend.

It did not go unnoticed in my home that April 2008 is historic
in that we had HHDL and the Catholic Pope in the United States
at the same time visiting similar locations to talk to thousands
at every stop.

This leads me to contemplate the messages from both religious leaders
in the context of the sate of the religious and secular world today.

In Haiti, they are eating cookies made of mud for lack of food while
tons of food will be diverted this year as biofuel to feed cars and
industry, that food will be kept away from humans to feed animals unfit
for human consumption, and all this redirected food would feed the
world over 10 times over.
Nations are killing their own citizens in order to "rule" them.
People are being murdered because educating girls is a crime.
Wars are being fought over natural resources like oil, water, and
metals with motivations hidden behind false agendas while we send
our sons and daughters to fight, die, and kill over lies.
It is easier to get a Coca Cola in the poorest and remotest parts of
the world than a vaccination, a doctor, shoes, or a daily meal.
Our food and water supplies are heavily tainted with hormones,
pesticides, chemical residues of manufacturing, and other wastes
that are killing us right now.
The few are trying to stifle the voices of the many by denying access
to communications like TV, Radio, Internet, and newspaper's to hide
their indiscretions heaped on the poor and disenfranchised or
just to hide the truth.
More people vote on American Idol than take part in their civic duty
and vote in elections.

So, you may be wondering why I mention all of this?

Two great leaders of two great faiths historically entered the United States
at the same time to speak on weighty mattes from the perspective of their
faiths. I am disappointed to see that their visits did nothing to motivate
the faithful of any and all faiths to take collective action and make a
unified call on each other to make these outrages right.

HHDL used one word to sum up the the solution to the failure of all of us,
myself included, to do more.

Altruism

We are so busy thinking about ourselves that we have forgotten that the
core of every faith and of every philosophy revolves around altruism.
These compel us to do what is right for each other without thought of
reciprocal action or reward. We have forgotten our responsibility to each
other do what is right because it is right.
I lay the blame on my failure to act right where it belongs, on myself.
But in that moment of insight I realize, there is no good reason for me
not to do what is right for my brothers and sisters on this lonely planet
we share and pass on to our children.

I will pray that we all come to the realization that despite all our
differences and our struggles we all will one day look in the mirror
and think to ourselves how simple it is to make the world the paradise
it could be by the simplest of altruistic acts.

- Be kind to each other.
- Love each other.
- Respect each other.

Eight Verses on Transforming the Mind - HHDL
With a wish to free all beings
I shall always go for refuge
to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha
until I reach full enlightenment.

Enthused by wisdom and compassion,
today in Buddha's presence
I generate the Mind of Full Awakening
for the benefit of all sentient beings.

As long as space endures,
as long as sentient beings remain,
until then, may I too remain
and dispel the miseries of the world.

Peace be with you.