Compassion and its not so secret agent!

I've just been mesmoried, healed & humoured by an extraordinary human being. Amongst the rain, wind and muddy paths most of us tread through to see him, it became the memory of a lifetime to physically be in the presence of human being encompassing the compassion and energy of Buddha.

Admittedly, i've had quite a despondent week personally with some confusion over the way people sometimes behave. I was at a loss to explain why some of us pretend to be something we're not. it seemed quite peculiar that we sometimes hide ourselves emotionally from others to protect ourselves. How dare we limit ourselves and not gift others with our wisdom, experiences and attention. So my mindset, out of concern, was quite disturbed before I went to see His Holiness, The 14th Dalai Lama.

The first glimpse we had of him, (from right near the edge of the stage) was enthralling. Without a drop of rain to remind us of where we were, he flooded our surroundings with pure love and friendship. The manner with which he began to speak (and waving at us with an eagerness of an innocent child) was simply heart melting. I have personally never been in the presence of such a human being with such virtuous and genuine qualities.

One of the first things he stated was the connectivity each of us have with ourselves at the physical and metaphysical levels, whilst very cleverly drawing a parallel connectivity with nature and the important focus we must place on our environment. The way in which he entwined the notion of compassion in Buddhist, Christian and Aiethiest thoughts were casted seamlessly with invisible labels, whilst using the visible label of love and common sense. The most profound statement I heard was that a "lack of harm" was compassion. A lack of harm encompassing the thoughts and actions of a lack of self harm and harm projected towards others. It was a such a simple message, yet expressed in a manner which made a perfect altruism, however, made perfect common sense. What i found more endearing was the likeness of his voice to Yoda - the way he laughed, gestured and delivered his wisdom. Even more the admiration and to want to be around him for an eternity.

The funniest of all moments for me (between his fascination for the Sydney Swans jumper, a fly on his spectacles & a really convenient sun-hat) was his answer to the question - "What is the Meaning of Life?" Upon trying to contain his bemusement for the question, he answered with firm conviction .. "I don't know??". He elaborated, with the biggest smile and after a shared laughter with the 5000 or so crowd, that his purpose in life was to be happy.

I viewed myself as quite a lucky individual in the respect that i wanted to see him up-close and personal, rain, hail or shine, thought i would have no chance, yet through a series of synchronous moments (and an early morning) got delivered everything i wished for. Truly a once in a lifetime moment for me, and the others around me, parched on the front crowd barriers (a somewhat spiritual mosh-pit) meters away from the stage.

Action

It seems quite trivial to me that a focus of compassion on ourselves and the environment is now needed for all of us to be happy individuals. There are a series of climate change seminars currently taking place in Auburn in Sydney throughout the next 2 Tuesday nights, where a group of us known as FEN (Faith and Ecology Network) are trying to come to an understanding of what our environment means to us, and how we can take action as individuals and faith groups to make a change in our lives.

The fact that a spiritual leader has cited climate change as something we are repsonsible for, leads me to believe we can make a difference. If we are kind towards each other, our respective belief systems and our surroundings, what we can achieve collectively becomes a very exciting hope.