(Written in the spring of 2001)
The subject of the upcoming
workshop in Dharamshala is “What is real wealth and how can we create it?” It
was suggested that we connect with our communities and do some preparation by
discussing this subject with people before the workshop. These are a few of the
insights that I have had and that my friends have shared with me when I brought
the subject up.
Before I read the description of
the workshop focus, my wife told me about it and asked me “What is real
wealth?” My answer was that it was friends, community, and a “Meaningful
existence, which meant making the world better for our having passed through
it, and this related to community. Also pertinent was covering basic needs:
health, food and shelter.
My wife said that real wealth
was all our relationships and the love that we give and feel.
My parents said that real wealth
is good health
My therapy supervisor suggested
that there were four components; and that there was intellectual, emotional,
physical, and spiritual good health.
My long time spiritual
mentor/friend who I keep in touch with across the country, when I told him of
the upcoming workshop and the group audience with the Dalai Lama, said:
“ Well, the Dalai Lama is always
talking about compassion. I think that if there were cosmic beings that grew up
in the universe and you wanted to send them to school, this would be the
perfect place to learn compassion, empathy, and the ability to create beauty.
It is perfect because of the malleability of the terrain, and because of the
capacity for integrated relationship.” I
asked him what he meant by “Malleability of the terrain”, and he said “All the
materials here will allow you to express your ideas. Fashioning of … Materials
are amenable… No matter what you look at there’s a form capable of expressing
that. Beauty is the capacity to excite admiring pleasure.” (…’s are mine; I
couldn’t write fast enough, and now will have to meditate and recall the rest
of the discussion; they are my fragmentary notes. …).
My T’ai Chi student Jack Gilman,
a computer systems network guy, came back with “Real wealth is fresh fruit; and
the way to create it is to grow your own tree.”
What is real wealth got many
responses, and they all seemed to have something to do with the quality of
life, and after meeting basic needs, involved compassion.
How we create real wealth is a
more complex question. We create it by manifesting compassion in our lives. But
how do we do this? Sometimes the answer is easy. I think that the most
interesting and pertinent situations occur when, as is often the case in human
situations, it is not so clear which path is the correct one, and difficult
choices must be made.
For example, is it better (more compassionate) to show
acceptance of someone’s faults or imperfections, or to try to help them grow by
correcting or criticizing them or their words or actions? The wonderful thing
about real life situations is that they are all unique, and each one requires
its own solution. A shy, slow student might be driven away by criticism while
for another, accepting maladaptive behavior might encourage it, and be less
than compassionate. In these situations, in order to be able to “do the right
thing” it could be argued that the best thing you can do is to become more sane
and aware. To have clearer insight into which course is the more compassionate,
various forms of meditation might seem to be indicated.
Generosity of Spirit:
