Well, this week has been a bit of a roller coaster. The bad news is that there was going to be an event at Rothko Chapel that was going to include a new work of mine, and it was cancelled. The good news is that my awesome friend Misha Penton stopped by early this week to record the piece. This should be a rather relaxing piece of music, so have a listen and I hope you enjoy! Listen to compassion is a verb here.
The title compassion is a verb come from a quote by Thích Nhất Hạnh. The text for the work is by the Dalai Lama, from his book Kindness, Clarity, and Insight.
“Whether you believe in God or not does not matter so much, whether you believe in Buddha or not does not matter so much; as a Buddhist, whether you believe in reincarnation or not does not matter so much. You must lead a good life. And a good life does not mean just good food, good clothes, good shelter. These are not sufficient. A good motivation is what is needed: compassion, without dogmatism, without complicated philosophy; just understanding that others are human brothers and sisters and respecting their rights and human dignity. That we humans can help each other is one of our unique human capacities. We must share in other peoples’ suffering; even if you cannot help with money, to show concern, to give moral support and express sympathy are themselves valuable. This is what should be the basis of activities; whether one calls it religion or not does not matter [so much].”
― Dalai Lama XIV
George Heathco 