Sylvia Boorstein, PhD

The only thing that makes sense is kindness. Equanimity in the mind really depends on having enough balance to know that whatever is happening now is not happening because of yesterday. It's happening because of everything that has ever happened in this whole world. Every individual is heir to their own karma. There are no enemies and no villains—this is just life unfolding, and the only thing we can do is to be kind. We can be kind to ourselves and everybody we meet so that in this whole pained world, we don't add any fuel to the fire of enmity.

One way of describing wisdom and compassion is to not be held captive by your own pain so that you’ll be able to be touched by the pain of others. The most significant move is to go from “our people” to “all people.” Like Paul Farmer says, “there’s only one nation—there’s only one people.” The Bodhisattva Vow says, “May all beings everywhere be peaceful and happy and come to the end of suffering.” And “beings are numberless, and suffering is endless. I vow to end it.” But I can't possibly be running around house to house in the whole world, so what does that mean? It means if my heart were a completely open heart, it would already be finished. Whatever house I’d be in front of I would meet with kindness or compassion.

One of the last things the Buddha said, when he passed out of this life, was “transient are all conditions.” Everything that arises—this life, this mayfly, this flower, this mountain, and most importantly this life—anything that’s a created thing, passes. Then he said to be confident about the future. Let the future arise in confidence. I love that! I’ve said many times that there is really only one Dharma talk: Life is complex and challenging all the time from the beginning to the end. But it’s manageable, it’s doable. And it’s possible to celebrate it because it’s magnificent and awesome and interesting.