Global Transformation
IT occurs to me that we are all part of a great global transformation project. The “Heaven on Earth Project” is what I call it. The project has a countless number of people around the world who are variously engaged in bringing the higher consciousness of oneness (heaven) into the earth of our physical being and human activities. I enjoy catching signs of the project manifesting, and had a wonderful opportunity to do so through attending the Seeds of Compassion event in Seattle, which was sponsored by the Center for Spiritual Living, Seattle.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama was the focal point during four days of talks, music, meetings and presentations on the subject and practice of compassion. At a lunch centered on compassion in business that called three hundred people together, one speaker shared that the “new zeitgeist” or leading edge in business is authenticity, caring and transparency. He added that the most successful companies are practicing these qualities in relationship with both their employees and their customers.
His Holiness is a living embodiment of the compassion he teaches. “My religion is kindness” is one of his sayings. In Seattle he suggested that, along with measuring gross national product, countries evaluate their “gross national happiness index” as an indicator of how well they are doing, and that along with considering our personal carbon footprint we consider our personal compassion footprint—or how well we are extending loving kindness and compassion in our daily lives.
When asked how he maintains a heart of generous love and support along his challenging journey and in the midst of the vicissitudes of the Tibetan people, he recommended adopting an attitude of appreciation for one’s enemy as the one who provides the opportunity to practice compassion when it is most difficult to do so. “Compassion toward the enemy is essential. To practice brings freedom.”
Once again, I came away from an encounter with His Holiness changed, and just a bit kinder, more compassionate and loving. And so heaven on earth grows.
