The Transformative Power of Goodness

 

03.17.2023 THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF GOODNESS Buddhism teaches that our original goodness – sometimes referred to as buddhanature – is not some distant state we can only hope to someday realize, but a state of being that’s available to all of us here in the present moment. This might seem unrealistic, especially when it’s so easy to get caught up in the responsibilities of our day-to-day lives. Work becomes increasingly stressful, bills accumulate while finances diminish, and overwhelm sets in, leaving us to ask: Is this really what life is all about? It doesn’t have to be that way. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said: “The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.” Appreciating goodness allows us to recognize more of the goodness that is already present in our lives, but it can be difficult to appreciate what’s around us when we’re caught in the eye of the storm. So what is one to do? Showing ourselves and others compassion is a good place to start. When we begin to open up to feeling compassion for everything around us, our relationship with everything around us changes. Maintaining a regular meditation practice can also be beneficial. Taking time for meditation allows us to slow down and become more present to whatever we’re currently experiencing, helping to keep us steady during turbulent times. As we continue our practice, wisdom develops and insights arise. Our perspective changes and we improve our ability to skillfully navigate our experiences. We become less reactive and more responsive to the world around us. With our careful attention, we can bring our essential goodness forward.  It’s our goodness on which our own happiness — and even the future of the planet — depends. The Dalai Lama’s essential message to us all is about our capacity and power to recognize and build upon our goodness. The three pieces below explore these building blocks of goodness. If these ideas are something you’d like to explore further, I invite you to register now for this weekend’s free, online summit The Dalai Lama Global Vision Summit 2023, featuring esteemed Buddhist teachers, experts, spiritual leaders, and activists. Each day of the summit will offer free teachings and meditations rooted in key themes of the Dalai Lama’s message. Click here to join us on this journey. — Chris Pacheco, Lion’s Roar A/V

The Ultimate Happiness In this exclusive conversation, the Dalai Lama talks about human goodness, why the self doesn’t (and does) exist, and how caring for others is the ultimate source of your own happiness. Why does the Dalai Lama touch so many people, not just those he meets personally but the hundreds of millions around the world who are inspired by his message of wisdom and kindness? I think it’s because he sees past all our differences and connects with the essence of who we are as human beings. He opens our hearts and touches our deepest longing for a life of happiness and affection. He makes us feel it is possible.

Open Your Heart Further Pema Khandro Rinpoche on cultivating the boundless love of a bodhisattva. Like the golden bee, we can begin to open our hearts by feeling compassion toward ourselves, and then bring to mind others who are in the same situation. This practice goes against our usual self-protective instinct. Yet it turns out that when we contemplate the suffering of others and open our hearts further, it actually gives us more strength. It gives us purpose and endurance. Opening our hearts awakens our intrinsic courage because our compassion and natural heroism are connected.

How Meditation Changes Your Brain — and Your Life When neuroscientists tested expert meditators, they discovered something surprising: The effect of Buddhist meditation isn’t just momentary; it can alter deep-seated traits in our brain patterns and character. Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson tell the story of this revolutionary breakthrough in our understanding of how meditation works. The lab team knew at that moment they were witnessing something profound, something that had never before been observed in the laboratory. None could predict what this would lead to, but everyone sensed this was a critical inflection point in neuroscience history. The news of that session created a scientific stir. As of this writing, the journal article reporting these findings has been cited more than 1,100 times in the world’s scientific literature. Science has paid attention.

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