Ethics for the New Millennium

Fülszöveg

From the Nobel laureate and author of the New York Times
bestseller The Art o f Happiness comes a passionate and
exquisitely argued call tor a spiritual
and ethical revolution.
'Compassion is what makes our lives meaningful. It is the
source of all lasting happiness and joy. And it is the foun-
dation of a good heart, the heart of one who acts out of a
desire to help others. Through kindness, through affection,
through honesty, through truth and justice toward all oth-
ers we ensure our own benefit. This is not a matter for
complicated theorizing. It is a matter
of common sense.
There is no denying that consideration of others is worth-
while. There is no denying that our happiness is inextricably
bound up with the happiness of others. There is no deny-
ing that if society suffers we ourselves suffer. Nor is there
any denying that the more our hearts and minds are afflict-
ed with ill-will, the more miserable we become. Thus we
can reject everything else:... Tovább

Fülszöveg

From the Nobel laureate and author of the New York Times
bestseller The Art o f Happiness comes a passionate and
exquisitely argued call tor a spiritual
and ethical revolution.
'Compassion is what makes our lives meaningful. It is the
source of all lasting happiness and joy. And it is the foun-
dation of a good heart, the heart of one who acts out of a
desire to help others. Through kindness, through affection,
through honesty, through truth and justice toward all oth-
ers we ensure our own benefit. This is not a matter for
complicated theorizing. It is a matter
of common sense.
There is no denying that consideration of others is worth-
while. There is no denying that our happiness is inextricably
bound up with the happiness of others. There is no deny-
ing that if society suffers we ourselves suffer. Nor is there
any denying that the more our hearts and minds are afflict-
ed with ill-will, the more miserable we become. Thus we
can reject everything else: religion, ideology all received
wisdom. But we cannot escape the necessity oi love and
compassion."
— His Holiness the Dalai Lama,
from Ethics for the New ?Millennium
"The Dalai Lama has developed his philosophy of peace
from a great reverence for all things living and upon the
concept
of universal responsibility embracing all mankind
as well as nature."
— From the citation by the Norwegian Nobel Committee
awarding the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize
Only during times when we have so little faith in
one another so little confidence in the willingness
of others to do what is right, can a strong voice
emerge to dispel disillusionment. It takes a per-
son of great courage, such as the Dalai Lama, to
face these times and give us hope.
There is an argument to be made for basic
human goodness. The number of people who
spend their lives being violent or dishonest is
tiny compared with the number of people—the
vast majority we don't hear about—who would
wish others only well. According to the Dalai
Lama, our survival has depended and will con-
tinue to depend on our basic goodness. "Much
more effective and important than legislation is
our regard for one another's feelings at a simple
human level. . . . Here, I refer to the capacity we
all have to empathize with one another to
arrive at the inability to bear the sight of anoth-
t pr ft
er s surrermg.
The Dalai Lama presents an ethical system
that not only is based on common sense and
reason, as opposed to religious dogma or puni-
tive legislation, but has as its goal ultimate hap-
piness for every individual. He demonstrates
that we human beings are better than we think
we are, and that a society and a life that culti-
vate love and compassion are completely with-
in our reach. If enough people operate from the
understanding of their "original purity," a global
revolution of peace will ensue. Vissza