Following the dharma in the 21st century

As part of our Mitra Study course, we take it in turns to do a project on the modules we study – and this time it was my turn!  The module we were studying was An Interconnected World – Buddhist Ethics.

I decided to take a more creative approach to my usual research-presentation style and made a video.  I chose two pieces of music which came to mind during the study, and put video clips, words and images to the music.  I was going to add a third song at the end but in a fit of self-doubt I deleted it thinking people would be bored by then, but I may re-do the video to include it after feedback from the group.

So, hopefully here is the video – note, I do not have the copyright for these songs therefore I am not sharing it on YouTube (and it’s too large for Vimeo).  NOTE THE VIDEO IS 1.8Gb if you’re trying to download it!  (and yes, I forgot to hit encode in my excitement at embedding a video for the first time in my blog – wait a moment for it to encode!!)

Though we all have the fear and the seeds of anger within us, we must learn not to water those seeds and instead nourish our positive qualities – those of compassion, understanding, and loving kindness.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Compassion is that which makes the heart of the good move at the pain of others. It crushes and destroys the pain of others; thus, it is called compassion. It is called compassion because it shelters and embraces the distressed. – The Buddha.

Most people believe that following the path of compassion and nonviolence is something related to religion. In fact, these are secular ethics and have nothing to do with religion

HH Dalai Lama