This week, Time Magazine's "10 Questions" feature spotlights The Dalai Lama and, as usual, he's charming and funny; profound without being the least bit pretentious. The answer that really smacked me on the head came after His Holiness was asked: "How do you stay so optimistic and faithful when there is so much hate in the world?" The Dalai Lama's reply? "I always look at any event from a wider angle. There's always some problem, some killing, some murder or terrorist act or scandal everywhere, every day. But if you think the whole world is like that, you're wrong. Out of a billion humans, the troublemakers are just a handful." The clarity and innocence (not a naive innocence, but an innocence born of real wisdom) of that answer makes me smile. And gives me hope.
Yeah, as statistically improbable as it is, my neighbors have never tried to kill me.
ReplyDeleteWeird, right?
You've got me, David: I haven't got a reply for that one!
ReplyDeleteSorry, JMD.
ReplyDeleteMy silly way of saying that the worst troublemakers are, relatively speaking, a handful. In my experience, 90% of our troubles come from the things we DON'T intend rather than what we mean.
I hope no one reading this post thinks I'm THAT bad of a neighbor!:)
No apologies necessary, David! I knew you were goofing around.
ReplyDelete