*Tricycle's Daily Dharma*
The Right to Happiness
Whether people are beautiful and friendly or unattractive and
disruptive, ultimately they are human beings, just like oneself. Like
oneself, they want happiness and do not want suffering. Furthermore,
their right to overcome suffering and be happy is equal to one's own....
When you recognize that all beings are equal in both their desire for
happiness and their right to obtain it, you automatically feel empathy
and closeness for them. Through accustoming your mind to this sense of
universal altruism, you develop a feeling of responsibility for others:
the wish to help them actively overcome their problems. Nor is this wish
selective; it applies equally to all.
--The Dalai Lama, /Compassion and the Individual/
From /Everyday Mind/, a /Tricycle/ book edited by Jean Smith
