So we had better think again and use our common sense. 

If we let our mind mistreat us so that we spend our lives suffering and making others suffer around us, that’s a sign of a lack of common sense. The thoughts and words that come from a disturbed state of mind can be considered “negative.” 

Instead of complaining about our fate, if we cultivate altruism and compassion, so that those “positive” states of mind improve our well-being and that of others, that shows that we do have common sense.

JIGME KHYENTSE RINPOCHE (born 1964) 

Oral Advice translated by Matthieu Ricard

Sand Mandala by Tibetan Monks in Dothan, AL. March 2015

Please note that Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche does not say that thoughts and words coming from a disturbed state of mind are negative, but that they can be considered "negative." This is important !

 

Kuan Yin

Kuan Yin (also spelled Guan Yin, Kwan Yin) is the bodhisattva of compassion venerated by East Asian Buddhists. Commonly known as the Goddess of Mercy, Kuan Yin is also revered by Chinese Taoists as an Immortal. The name Kuan Yin is short for Kuan Shih Yin (Guan Shi Yin) which means "Observing the Sounds of the World".

In Japanese, Kuan Yin is called Kannon or more formally Kanzeon; the spelling Kwannon, resulting from an obsolete system of romanization, is sometimes seen. In Korean, she is called Kwan-um or Kwan-se-um. In Vietnamese, she is called Quan Âm or Quan Thế Âm Bồ Tát.

Kuan Yin is the Chinese name for the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. However, folk traditions in China and other East Asian countries have added many distinctive characteristics and legends. Most notably, while Avalokitesvara can be depicted as either male or female, Kuan Yin is usually depicted as a woman, whereas Avalokitesvara in other countries is usually depicted as a man.

I always had a personal appreciation for Kwan Yin, for I believe she is the oldest goddess in the world. Her other names are Isis, Ishtar, Marie and Myriam, among others, and we have representations of her dating from way before humans could write...

The Venus of Brassempouy - 25,000 BP

This Satue of Kwan Yin moved to the Mokurai Garden last July. She greets me and I bow to her everymorning morning on my way to the Dojo.

John Blofeld wrote about her in a beautiful book :

She is the embodiment of selfless love, the supreme symbol of radical compassion, and, for more than a millennium throughout Asia, she has been revered as “The One Who Hearkens to the Cries of the World.”

SUSPICION

In these periods of electoral fever, one only hears people trying to put blame on others : Republicans, Democrats, Moslems, Jews, Christians, Drug addicts, Bankers, Congressmen, Socialists.... The blame is always on someone else. Here Zen Master BANKEI points to the fact that even when someone has done something despicable, we should be careful of the way this is brought to light, for the consequences may at times be much worse than the wrong it was supposed to cure.  

During the Great Training Period at the Ryomonji temple, there was an incident in which some money was lost in the Fudo Hall. One day, when the Master ascended the lecture seat, a monk came forward and said: "I am such-and-such a person of such-and-such province and a student at the such-and-such temple. This winter I have been practicing in the Fudo Hall. A monk in the place next to mine lost his traveling money, and because I was in the seat beside his, he suspected me of taking it. The rumor has spread through the entire hall, and I beg your Reverence to conduct an inquiry."

The Master asked: "Did you steal anything?" 

The monk replied: "At a unique religious gathering like this, such a shameless act would never even cross my mind!" 

The Master told him: "Then everything is all right." 

The monk said: "Yes, but at this meeting, monks are gathered from all over Japan, and I'm worried that if there is no inquiry, I'll be given a bad name throughout the country. I beseech your Reverence's kind understanding." 

The Master said: "If there's an inquiry, the guilty one will have to come out—is that all right too?" 

The monk then declared: "It's I who have shown the very worst kind of shamefulness, being self-centered and arrogant in a case like this after I'd listened to your wonderful teaching every day!"

And, shedding tears of gratitude, he withdrew. 

(Adapted from Bankei Zen, translations from Records of Bankei)

Compassion happens

“Compassion arises by entering into the subjectivity of others, by sharing their interiority in a deep and total way.” (Bhikkhu Bodhi).

After 30 to 35 minutes of Zazen, a stabbing pain arises between my shoulder blades, slightly to the left. It burns, it stabs, it nags... I can adjust my position and find some relief to it, but I know it's here, ready to strike !

Once upon a time, I was driving on a small road of Provence. It was a rainy stormy night of  1981. The road was slippery. The car skidded, I tried to catch up, it skidded the other way... And I flipped my Dad's convertible into a 25' deep ditch.

My head crushed under the windscreen frame, I knew I was bleeding, and realized I was going to die there if I didn't try do something about it. After quite a struggle, I was able to collect my legs underneath my chest. I lifted the car just enough to release my head from the wreck. (I was practicing Aikido one hour before the accident, and all my muscles and joints were warm and stretched)

I pushed the door open. I got out from under the car and climbed back to the road. Some people stopped and took me to a doctor. And from there to a hospital. Literally covered with blood I walked to the ER - I distinctly remember a cat sitting on the operation table...

They shooed him away. I climbed on the table and within 30 seconds was paralyzed from head to toe.

Not a good feeling...

The doctor had to stitch my scalp back together. Because of the concussion, she could not put me to sleep. This was painful... You can deal with 2 or 3 stitches, but 30 or 40 of them, added to the fear of paralysis... I could not even punch the Doctor in the nose: I was paralyzed !

A nurse gently grabbed my hand. She said nothing, she just held my hand. I could not squeeze hers, but I could feel it. The release was amazing and instantaneous. She did not move, she did not speak, she was just here with me, sharing physically and in person.

Compassion.

I was young, I recovered quickly. Minor damages. One dorsal vertebra slightly crushed. I would feel it when I'd get older said the good looking Doctor...

So now, when I sit and feel the pain, I know where it comes from, and remember Compassion.

Compassion is often confused with benevolence, generosity, altruism or self-sacrifice. But Compassion hardly can be defined with words. I can tell you what it's not, but I can't tell you what it is.

You don't decide to be compassionate, Compassion happens. When it happens, you don't know it, and once you realized it happened, well, it's not happening anymore ...

Don't be excited or fooled by big words, big deeds, big acts. In Compassion two sentient beings become one, and experience together. There is no need or room for words, thinking, or feeling. 

Compassion happens.