There should be no doubt that I feel deeply when it comes to animals.  A great part of that stems from my cynicism about people, a trait often reinforced when I look at the horrible anguish we levy against nature.  How many species have we driven to extinction?  How many animals do we put to death every year simply because people don’t care, don’t truly love their pets, and don’t act responsibly?  How much beauty and life have we destroyed in the name of progress?  How much have we endangered our own existence by assuming everything on this planet is here to serve us, a belief we act on with reckless abandon?  How often do we turn our backs on the pain and suffering of others, even going so far as to declare those experiences to be the justice inflicted by some god who supposedly loves everyone yet seems to enjoy pushing horrific anguish on those with whom we disagree?

Despite my proclamations to the contrary, however, and accepting the ardent cynic within, I also have great compassion for people.  I hate to see them suffer needlessly (and, more importantly, when it’s not of their own doing).

While I do not subscribe to any one religious or philosophical ideology, Buddhism has always been the greatest influence for me in that regard.  Much of that comes from the fact that Buddhists follow and demonstrate the greatest teachings of humanitarianism and environmentalism.  Unlike the vast majority of other faiths and creeds, Buddhism focuses on improvement of self rather than proselytizing.  This is because the faiths that declare you must convert the world understand their message is unable to win over the hearts and minds of others through example only.  Buddhists, on the other hand, only convert by example instead of trying to force their beliefs on others.  Truth be told, religion fails entirely in this regard and could learn a lot from Buddhism about how to live a life worthy of following, a life full of love and caring, a life others would want to lead.

One significant piece of this is the Buddhist tenet that we are a part of nature, not masters over it, and that we must tend to the Earth and all its inhabitants instead of just focusing on ourselves.  Religions all preach a dominionist viewpoint: humans are the masters of the world, and every bit of life on this planet is here only to serve our needs and desires.  It’s a disgusting and damaging declaration that has unarguably destroyed much life and placed the entire planet in jeopardy.  Again, Buddhism could teach others of faith a great deal about caring “for the least of these” in a real way rather than just through lip service.

I said all of that as an introduction to a new series.  During the next several days I will be sharing some of my favorite verses from the Bodhisattvacharyavattara (“Way to Enter the Path of Bodhisattva”), a Buddhist text written by (the Arya) Shantideva in the 8th century.  This is precisely the kind of teaching that other religious followers don’t get but should if their gods were truly full of love and compassion.  These are also some of the best examples of how to live a truly good life.

I hope you will enjoy them as much as I have and continue to do.  Perhaps, just perhaps, you will also find among them a strong motivation to cast aside the inhumane greed and terror of other faiths that reject this kind of true compassion in favor of their own hatred, intolerance, dominionism, and, not to put too fine a point on it, evil.