Read carefully. These powerful phrases may change the way you see your life.
If you love books, you will know that there are books that the more you read them, the more they read you.
These books are like doctors who will auscultate you as you turn the pages, looking for where it hurts to diagnose what is wrong in your life.
This usually happens to me with the Dalai Lama’s books.
That’s why I want to share with you some of the most disturbing phrases I read in his book The Seven Steps to Love, which changed my way of seeing life.
On living a good life
“If you feel compassion for an ugly person, no matter how much his appearance changes the feeling of compassion will remain. “- Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama suggests that we develop compassion not only for people we like but for all living beings (including our enemies).
And he doesn’t just say this to make us self-righteous. But when we feel empathy only for the suffering of people we like, that compassion hides a seed of interest.
That is, we only feel compassion for those people who benefit our lives in some direct way.
And that is the worst thing that can be done in a world where democracies are in danger. No peace will last if we cannot sympathize with those who do not think like us.
And without peace, there is no quality of life. So, it is an efficient lesson to start removing our prejudices for the common good and our own.
On friends and enemies
“The help or harm of another person is a passing thing, and to choose proximity or estrangement cannot be based on a mere temporary matter.” — Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama reminds us that even the best relationships are not eternal.
Throughout life, our affinities, ideas, and tastes change. And that will take us away from people we think we are friends with today and bring us closer to others.
Affective bonds degrade with time, and new alliances are reborn from the ashes of our failures.
This is important because whoever your friend is today can be your greatest enemy tomorrow and vice versa. Reread it.
Therefore, following the maxim “do good and don’t look at whom” is best.
In addition, your perception of reality has a significant influence.
In the words of the Dalai Lama, “When negative thoughts like hatred or anger are present, even a friend is seen as an enemy, but when negative thoughts towards an enemy disappear, the enemy becomes a friend.”
On currying favor with people.
“Like other mammals such as the dog and the cat, we become attached to the people who feed us. We love our mother not because she gave us life but because she nursed and cared for us.” — Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama tells an amusing story in his book The Seven Steps to Love.
When he was three or four years old, the Dalai Lama left home, and the person who fed him was no longer his mother.
“I was being fed by a bald, bearded man named Ponpo.” — Confessed the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama formed such a bond with Ponpo that he needed to have him around, or he would cry inconsolably.
Over the years, the Dalai Lama reflected on this and realized that his bond with Ponpo was similar to that of a mother and child because Ponpo, like his mother, cared for him and fed him.
That means that affection is born from satisfying the needs of others. And whoever cultivates that ability will be able to win anyone’s favor.
As the Dalai Lama says, “The survival of our body needs the affection of other people, to whom we also respond with affection.”
We are not islands.
Treat people with kindness. Kindness is the new oil.
A virtual hug
AG
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