Discover Tibet and Buddhism
 

Welcome to our Tibetan Buddhism Archive. Have fun browsing!

 

Article #75: Help Always, Hurt Never

(Browse for more articles)

 
Revenge, the desire to hurt others who can hurt and not be hurt, that we can
have hurt us, only bears bitter fruit. It wound another and remain unscathed. When
hurts those whom we have inflicted our we inflict harm upon another, we inflict
wrath upon. And it hurts us, because no harm upon ourselves. What goes around
single act in the universe goes comes around. A rudimentary study of
unrewarded. From that singular act, our history will prove this.
own consciousness is wounded by the When we love, we reach out to align with
expression of our animalism. life, to nurture and make others better,
Nations pride themselves on the swiftness and in that act, we redeem ourselves from
of their retribution but inevitably our own past follies.
collapse in on themselves because the This love is a precious act. It is our
seeds of discontent that they sow, hurts extension of spiritual power in the
all of life. Rome, the greatest world. It is a moment of sympathy and
civilization that the world had ever support that we have for life. When you
known, built on the finest arts and bend down and help a child tie its
sciences known to the ancient world, the shoelaces, you are tying up all the knots
epitome of legal and architectural order, of the world. When you listen in silence
collapsed from within, destroyed by its and understand another's intention, you
own impulse to use its mighty force to are spreading the meme of empathy through
strike out and subdue. all of time and space, for thoughts are
Today our world is dying because of this cosmic waves that do not know any
impulse to strike out. barriers.
We are destroying each other at an As we extend love to others, it comes
alarming rate, both individually and back to us.
collectively. Yet we cannot love others unless we love
And even the earth itself, is collapsing ourselves as well.
at a faster rate than we can repair. We cannot live without making mistakes of
Scientists now estimate that by the year judgment and do things that we will later
2050, we will have exhausted the earth of regret, because we are naĆÆve and do
all its natural resources. foolish things out of that naivety. But
The science that we celebrate, the genius we do grow, and looking back at the harm
of our efforts, are wasted on destructive we have invoked, we feel grief. Our act
uses. Instead of using the power of the of love, then, is to forgive ourselves.
nucleus to build great civilizations we Yet instead of taking this simple act, we
are busy using it to stockade bombs. damn ourselves repeatedly, and in this
Billions of dollars that could be used to way, we still hurt life, because we are
heal the broken places on our planet are life.
used to send people to horrific deaths. When we feel the urge to strike out, we
When we seek to hurt life, we hurt must remember how it feels to have the
ourselves, for we are life. wound inflicted upon our own flesh,
Revenge it is said is a dish best served because everything returns to the author
cold; but whether it is served with cold of a deed.
deliberation or hot reaction, it is a Help always, hurt never. Do this and your
dish in whose very preparation we imbue a life will be a blessing to the world and
poison that will return to destroy us. you must reap the harvest from what you
The greatest illusion is this: that we have sown.






1- A- B- C- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9- 10- 11- 12- 13- 14- 15- 16- 17- 18- 19- 20- 21- 22- 23- 24- 25- 26- 27- 28- 29- 30- 31- 32- 33- 34- 35- 36- 37- 38- 39- 40- 41- 42- 43- 44- 45- 46-