A Fearless Heart
By
Dorjee Damdul
“You are your own enemy, and you
are your own savior” (p81).
INTRODUCTION:
Nothing
is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. The idea here is the
cultivation and practice of compassion for others, for self and for the entire
humanity in this interconnected world.
PREVIEW:
When
we discuss and share our thoughts on reading a book, I feel it is more like a
review of the book. So the question is how to do a book review? I have no answer to this myself, but I am
interested to share with you what inspires, and strikes me and any Ah Ha moment
I have felt from reading the book: A Fearless Heart.
Of
all the things that the book touched on, I would focus on the fascinating story
of the author, who we all know is the principal English translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, but little
did I know about his other facet of life, until I read the book. I would try to
encapsulate the central idea of the book and finally the learning that occurred
to me.
I.
Thupten Jingpa went against his
parents’ wishes to be the breadwinner of the family and choose to be a monk at
the tender age of 11. But two decades later, he gave up his celibacy vow to
become the breadwinner of his own family. The reason he gave for why he chooses
to leave the monastery is for his longing to have a family of own, which he
feels he was deprived at his young age. There is some mention of his difficult
decision on this issue. I thought it
would be very interesting stuff for western readers, if he could share a little
more details of his romance with a westerner. How it started, what was the
trigger point for his aberration. I wonder if he ever feel remorse today? Even
though the author said that his disrobing is not a sign of disillusion of
monastic life, but I feel people may not perceive that decision as a sign of
strength. In fact, as intellectually stalwart as he is today, could he have
achieved more by remaining a monk than being a lay person.
 |
| D.C Tibetan Book Club meeting at Office of Tibet. Aug.03.2015 |
What
is interesting is that the author has not attended any formal school, and he is
self-taught. He learnt English by listening to VOA, and BBC world service and
through the help of another Germany lady, while staying at the monastery. No
doubt he was a veracious reader. He wrote the evocative power of the English language deeply
impressed him and thanks to his mastery of the language, landed him the job of
interpreting for His Holiness the Dalai Lama since 1985. His Holiness sensing
his acute intellect told Thupten Jingpa to lead an independent life dedicated
to scholarship. His attendance at o Cambridge University to further his studies
on religion might have been a turning- point in his life. Dr. Jinpa is one of
the rarest cream of the crop in our exile society, who has a combination of deep
knowledge on Buddhism philosophy and western thoughts.
Now
let me move on to his book Fearless Heart and what he says and the ideas
presented in the book.
II.
The central theme of book:
Compassion
is a basic necessity for our survival; it is something that we can acquire and
adopt through practice and training.
I
believe compassion is at the heart of Tibetan Buddhism teaching, when we
encounter someone is suffering, Tibetans would automatically express the word
“Nyingje”. I believe in what the author says that, Compassion is a part of our
everyday experience of being human (p.14) Compassion has something to do with
what it means to lead a good life.
Compassion is the common ground where the ethical teachings of all major
traditions, religious and humanistic come together.(p14). As the spirit of coexistence and cooperation
is so essential in this globalized world today, the practice of compassion is
needed more than ever. Its time has come. The noted emotion scientist Paul
Ekman makes a powerful case as what her refers is “global compassion” which is
the most important challenge of our time. The author assumes a very optimistic
tone, as he says If we as an individual
and together as a global society, can take the compassionate part of our nature
seriously, we have a real chance of making a more humane world.
The
logic of this argument on why compassion is the answer is as follow;
We
are not just self-seeking and competitive creatures, but we are caring and
cooperative beings as well. A new field
of science tells that by training our mind, we can literally change our brain. Which
is known as brain elasticity. He said
that first step to create a compassionate individual and society is through
creating awareness and education on the subject. And by being positive of its
impact, and he believes in the power of self-fulfilling prophecy. “When our story says that we are at heart
selfish and aggressive creatures, we assume that every man is for himself. In
this “Dog eat dog world” it is only logical then to see others as a source of
rivalry and antagonism. By contrast, if our story says that we are social
creatures endowed with instincts for compassion and kindness, and that as
deeply interdependent being our welfare is intertwined, this totally changes
the way we view and behave in the world.
So the stories we tell about ourselves, about the transformative power
of compassion, do matter, quite profoundly”. The problem is no matters how
precious are the act of compassion for self and others, yet we fail to give it
a central role in our lives and in our society. As for some people, compassion
is a matter of religion and morality, a private concern of the individual with
little or no societal relevance. But the
author makes a compelling argument, that compassion is fundamental to our basic
nature as human beings. The instinct for
compassion is more like our ability to learn a language.(p25) and the author
goes on to say that Dalai Lama and Mother Terrassa excelled in the language compassion
because , they worked on it . Similarly the seed of compassion is present in
all of us, if only we gave it a chance..
As
learning a new language is a not everyone’s cup of tea, so is the practice of
compassion. Unless we practice and change our habits and make it an active
force in our lives, it will only be something that happens to us- we get angry
when provoked. Feel compassion when triggered. When we leave it that way, we
fail to tap into the transformative power of compassion. (p. 31)
Very
young children fourteen to eighteen months exhibit genuine helping behavior.
Compassion is innate (p.30)
The
author goes to say scientist have identified positive effects of compassion in
the brain. When we help someone with genuine concern for her well-being, the
levels of endorphins, which are associated with euphoric feelings, surge in the
brain. That means you don’t have to get drug to get high, you can help someone
to get high, that may even last longer.
Other
benefit of compassion is that it slows aging process, fights loneliness,
reduces stress, and contributes to better relationship. Even in romantic
relationships, being kind makes us more attractive. We are born to connect and
kindness is contagious. Our health, happiness, and our whole world depend on
our giving and receiving kindness.
THE
POWER OF COMPASSION AND WHY IT MATTERS:
As
Buddha said, when you have compassion you possess all the virtues.
In Tibetan, compassion is known as Nyingje,which means the king of heart.
Even
though His Holiness the Dalai Lama talks about global compassion, oneness of
humanity, it is possible that they are people who feel it is such a lofty idea,
and too idealistic. On other hand the cynics believe, including author Mark
Twin, we failed humanity. But each of us analyze and draw our own conclusion
based on sound evidence, therefore we should not take things at its face value.. But I believe through changing our behavior
we change the world. That is what the Buddha meant when he stated, “With our
thoughts we make the world”.(p.71). That is to say by changing the way we
perceive ourselves and the world we live in , we can transform the way we
experience ourselves and the world.
I
am deeply impressed by the analogy of Shantideva, as how each of us each make a
difference in the world,
“If
we were to try to cover the entire face of the earth with leather to protect
our feet, where could be find enough leather? Instead by covering the soles of
our feet with leather shoes we can achieve the same purpose as covering the
entire earth. The best solution to a problem is the one that you yourself can
bring about.(p.70) or it means to the same cliché as think globally, act
locally.
CONCLUSION:
To wrap up, I shared with you, what
is compassion, why it matters and how we can embrace it. The steps in mental training are highlighted
in the compassion cultivation training. Dr. Jinpa has designed. I am in
agreement with the author, as a rational and emotional beings, it’s no wonder
we are also moral creatures, constantly evaluating the world around us and
adjusting our responses according to our values, attitudes and goals.
The
Dalai Lama once said that he envisions a time when, just as today we accept
good diet and exercises as key to physical health, the world will come to
recognize the importance of mental care and training for mental health and
human flourishing. That time may not be so far away. Actually I believe the
time for compassion to play a central role in our lives has arrived. Let me end with another inspirational quote from Shatendiva:
If
something can be done about it,
What
need is there for dejection?
And
if nothing can be done about it,
What
use is there for being dejected?
Thank you.
Presented at D.C Tibetan Book Club meeting.
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