Compassion at Christmas 2005
I am not Buddhist, but I really enjoy reading books by the Dalai Lama. A main focus of all of his books is having compassion for others. I try very hard to practice compassion in my daily life but at this time of year it is particularly challenging. Peter and I work 7 days a week from the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve. In addition to not having a day off, the hours we work are much longer than the store's open hours. Needless to say, we are somewhat stressed this time of year.
As I am trying to practice compassion and the following things happen; I am in heavy traffic and I stop to let someone in who then flips me off for no apparent reason, and despite signs asking to please refrain from using a cell phone in the shop, a person walks in on a cell phone loudly discussing who is sleeping with whom while I am helping a client, I wonder how the Dalai Lama does it. I try to imagine that maybe the man who flipped me off was just treated badly by his boss\wife\mother\child and he is taking his aggression out on me. Maybe the woman on her cell phone does not feel very important in her day-to-day life and she is trying to feel important in front of us. Maybe family members who consistently promote hatefulness are simply miserable themselves and do not know how else to deal with their pain.
Practicing compassion in daily life is very hard work and I hope that eventually, with practice, it will become easier to do. Maybe at some point I won't have to stop and go through an imaginary scenario providing a reason why the bad action happened. I believe that most people do not do bad things with bad intentions, they are just reacting badly or are misguided. And maybe a kind and non-aggressive response from me will make their day a little bit better.
Trying to practice Buddhist principles at Christmas is kind of funny, but compassion is just another way of saying "..do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Practicing the compassion principle makes me grateful which is an important thing for me to remember, particularly this time of year. I am grateful for my health and the health of my loved ones, for the fact that all of our family, friends and clients who are serving overseas are healthy, that I have a kind and loving family, a shop in which to work, a job that I love, and many other things. I am happy to be on the journey in life that I am on, which is a key to happiness and peace for me. When I forget to practice these principles, my weekly volunteer day rolls around and the compassion and gratefulness returns in an instant.
I hope that everyone has a happy and peaceful Christmas season. I am doing my best to contribute to a season of compassion, forgiveness, happiness, respect and peace.