Compassion and the Individual by Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dali Lama - Essay Example

There is a citing in the article of a surging number of mental illnesses in the United States making up about 12% of the general population. A closer assessment showed that the main cause of these conditions were not lack of material possessions as many may think, but ‘deprivation of the affection of the others.’ Although the intent of life may be viewed as happiness, compassion is one of the key ways this is achieved. The term compassion is used depict a variety of other nouns such as love.

The view in this case is that everyone tries to be happy ever since they are born. Every action that is undertaken such as playing with toys, socializing, and so forth are done to fulfil the urge to be happy. It is an expression of human will, and possibly one of the purpose of life. The problem nonetheless is that people are not always happy despite striving their best to be. Despite all the actions that humans undertake and the illusion that they might all bring about, Gyatso contends that the hidden objective is to be happy.

However, Gyatso goes an extra mile to expound how this happiness can be attained. He initially clusters happiness into two, mental and physical happiness. Mind happiness in this case is taken to be of greater significance as compared to physical happiness. Mental happiness can be attained by devoting out most serious efforts to bringing mental peace, which would help us live in happiness. Mental tranquility according to Gyatso is best derived from the development of love and compassion. Each individual is viewed as a crucial part of society where the happiness of others dictates the happiness of one self.

It is hence ones obligation to care for the happiness of others since it influence inner tranquility. Inner tranquility of the mind plays the role of embracing happiness in one’s life, particularly by overcoming problems that are ever present in life. Gyatso states that these problems may be viewed by