Our first concern tends to be our own search for happiness and our attempts to escape suffering. But if you step back and see yourself as just one among the whole infinity of sentient beings, your individual wants and fears begin to look insignificant in comparison.
Just as you want to be happy, so too does every single one of all those beings. But in their pursuit of happiness, almost everything they do only results in suffering. If only they could hear and follow the profound teaching of the Dharma, then, like the blind recovering their sight, they would see that happiness—for oneself and others, in this life and in lives to come—is brought about solely by positive actions.
The only way to get free of the vicious circle of suffering and to attain the lasting happiness of enlightenment is to pay careful attention to undertaking positive actions and avoiding negative ones. Indeed, if you yourself have not fully assimilated this truth, you may claim to wish to help others, but your efforts will all be in vain.
– Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
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