🟣Donna Melanson

Cultivating a close, warmhearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. It helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter. It is the principal source of success in life.

To achieve justice without losing compassion, what’s important is to avoid doing harm. Helping sentient beings can be a source of great satisfaction. All of us, animals as well, have basic rights that we need to protect.

When we think about fear, there are two types, legitimate fear for which there is some valid basis and fear that is rooted in our mental projections. There’s a Tibetan saying that if you let your mind run wild, you’ll see a robber in an empty house.

As a Buddhist monk, I’m dedicated to promoting inter-religious harmony. All religions accept the value of warm-heartedness. Some believe in God; others have faith in karma. When I hear about fighting among religious people, I feel very sad—as if medicine has become poison.

Now we have to think about the future without copying the past. We have to take a broader perspective, not only concerning ourselves with my nation, my community and so on. We have to think about the whole of humanity; the oneness of all human beings.

As soon as I wake every morning, I remind myself that all human beings are the same as me—we all want to be happy. I resolve to use my life to ensure that other beings are happy. It’s compassion that brings about peace of mind, not anger and hatred.

Scientists have found evidence that those who cultivate love and compassion have greater peace of mind, while constant anger and fear make us uneasy and are bad for health. Common sense too tells us that people who are moved by love and compassion are peaceful and happy.