In order to make your sense of closeness more vivid, you could take a further step in connecting to the people who have benefited you from afar. You could take a look at the labels on the clothes you are wearing to see where they were made. Taking advantage of the easy access to information and images that the Internet affords you, you can investigate to actively educate yourself about working conditions and the experiences of factory workers in the place your clothes were made. Do not wait for news of their lives to reach you. Extend yourself and connect with them. Do this with the awareness that, no matter how different the backdrop of their lives appears, just like you they yearn to be happy and free of suffering.
17th Karmapa
from the book Interconnected: Embracing Life in Our Global Society
Read a random quote or see all quotes by the 17th Karmapa.
Further quotes from the book Interconnected:
- The workings of interdependence
- An important source of closeness and love
- Webs of interdependence
- Enjoying the goodness of what you are doing
- Bringing about real change in the world
- Experiencing connection rather than isolation
- Touching the core of our equality
- Acting against self-serving impulses
- We hold nothing back
- A genuine sense of affection
- The power of our senses
- Delight in positive thoughts
- Opening up to the view of interconnectedness
- Remaining indifferent to the suffering of animals
- Self-discipline
- Our life is like a vast net
- You exist in connection with others
- The ability to experience genuine closeness
- Dismantling the walls that separate us
- Being an interdependent individual