Transforming My World

Selection Source: "A Human Revolution" (featured in Life Positive
Plus [Oct-Dec 2003], a Buddhist magazine published in India)

Humanity has experienced many revolutionary changes over the course
of history: revolutions in agriculture, in science, industrial
production, as well as numerous political revolutions. But these
have all been limited to the external aspects of our individual and
collective lives.

In other words, while we have made great leaps forward in our
technological capacity to control and shape the world around us, we
have not achieved a correspondingly dramatic expansion and elevation
of the human spirit. As a result, we end up at the mercy of the very
forces we have unleashed.

For millenniums humanity has pursued the goal of obtaining the
material necessities of our survival. Yet, as Mahatma Gandhi stated,
the Earth can produce enough to satisfy everyone's need, but not
everyone's greed.

If it continues to be driven by the unrestrained impulses of desire,
our materialistic culture will completely escape our control. Even
now, it threatens to consume and exhaust the Earth itself,
undermining the life systems that support our existence.

Ultimately, all human activities have as their goal the realization
of happiness. Why, then, have we ended up producing the opposite
result? Could the underlying cause be our failure to correctly
understand the true nature of happiness?

The gratification of desire is not happiness. If it were, as
Socrates noted, a person who spends his life scratching an itch
would have to be considered happy. Genuine happiness can only be
achieved when we transform our way of life from the unthinking
pursuit of pleasure to one committed to enriching our inner lives,
when we focus on "being more" rather than simply having more.

Our own lives are most effectively enhanced and fulfilled when we
seek the kind of happiness that is not limited to ourselves, but
includes the welfare of others. I further believe that a commitment
to the happiness of others holds the key to the achievement of
peaceful coexistence among people and between people and the natural
world.

In the Buddhist tradition, the pursuit of such an ideal is embodied
by the bodhisattva. Bodhisattvas are described as seeking not simply
their own release from suffering. Rather, they are prepared to risk
everything in order to take action on behalf of those who suffer.
For the bodhisattva, there is a profound harmonization of the
interests of self and other; wholehearted efforts on behalf of
others are the greatest source of benefit and joy. Bodhisattvas are
said to fear the loss of the altruistic spirit more than the
torments of hell itself; for to lose the spirit of altruism is to
lose the very reason for one's being.

While I have used the specifically Buddhist term bodhisattva, this
is not to imply the existence of a special kind of person, somehow
different or better. Rather, the capacity for altruism is something
inherent in every human heart. The term describes anyone -- of
whatever culture or religion -- who acts for the sake of others.

Working for people's happiness is something everyone can do,
regardless of circumstances. It requires no special titles or
qualifications. In the end, it comes down to the effort to engage
with and encourage others. But this encouragement is not something
offered at arm's length, keeping oneself at a safe distance. Real
encouragement is conveyed only in the process of sharing the reality
of life's sufferings and challenges.

Making the effort to live this way amid the corruptions and
humiliations of society, striving to offer the gifts of courage and
hope, brings out the inner radiance of our lives. Encouraging others
enables us to fully grasp the meaning of our lives and experience
enduring happiness.

The transformation from a self-centered, self-involved way of life
to one dedicated to the well-being of others is the process
of "human revolution."