Dear Brothers and Sisters,

All the Masters of the world – Lao Tzu, the Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, Mahata Gandhi, Mother Teresa – teach us to love everyone of the world, leaving no one out.

If you haven’t tried loving everyone, then you don’t know. But if you have seriously tried it, you at least have had a glimpse of how powerful it is in sanctifying your heart and your world.

Anything worth anything requires extreme commitment – one way, to the utmost. If you love God, love to the utmost. If you love the Buddha, love to the utmost. If you love your parents, love to the utmost. If you love your spouse, love to the utmost. If you love your lover, love to the utmost. If you love your country, love to the utmost. If you love the world, love to the utmost. If you love people, love to the utmost.

The idea of loving all people of the world, leaving no one out, has been taught for thousands of years, but the number of people practicing it has always been too few, just because it has always seemed difficult and unrealistic.

But, if you spend some time to ponder over it, you will find it much easier than you imagine.

Prince Siddhartha, who later became known as the Buddha, saw four significant sights when he ventured outside his father’s palace. These sights, which are often referred to as “The Four Sights,” deeply impacted him and set him on his path to enlightenment.

Here’s what he saw:

1. Old Age: The first sight was an old man with gray hair, missing teeth, blurred vision, and deaf ears. This was the first time Siddhartha was confronted with the reality of aging.

2. Sickness: The second sight was a sick person suffering from a disease. This sight exposed Siddhartha to the suffering caused by illness.

3. Death: The third sight was a corpse. This was Siddhartha’s first encounter with death, which made him realize the impermanence of life.

4. Asceticism: The fourth and final sight was an ascetic, a person who had renounced worldly pleasures in search of spiritual enlightenment.

These sights made Prince Siddhartha reflect on the problems of suffering and led him to leave his life of luxury in the palace to seek a solution. This marked the beginning of his spiritual journey towards becoming the Buddha.

Prince Siddhartha saw the human sufferings, he loved all humanity, and he wanted to find a solution to stop their sufferings.

The same with Jesus. The Bible records three instances where Jesus cried:

Over the City of Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-42): Jesus wept over the city as he approached it, foreseeing the future destruction that would come upon it.

At the Tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35): Before raising Lazarus from the dead, seeing Lazarus’s relatives crying in pain and sorrow, Jesus wept. (This is the shortest verse in the Bible, often quoted as “Jesus wept.”)

In the Garden of Gethsemane shortly before his arrest and execution (Matthew 16:21, 23-24): Jesus prayed: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death… Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (See also John 12:44-50)

These instances show Jesus’ compassion and deep emotional connection with humanity. He predicted his death and was willing to die to save humanity.

It’s likely that Jesus wept more times than these recorded instances.

My point is: The Great Masters saw the suffering of people, and they felt the pain of humanity and, therefore, they love humanity dearly. Or that is, the Great Master love humanity greatly, so they feel the pain of humanity and suffer along with humanity? Which comes first, which comes second? Or, both come at the same time?

I am not sure about the answer, but this much is clear and certain for us worldly people: We have to see the pain and suffering of humanity, to feel for humanity and love humanity.

And seeing the pain and suffering of humanity is the easiest thing for us to do – just look around you, you can see so much pain and suffering: people struggling, crying, fighting, oppressing, abusing, robbing, killing, despairing, suffering illnesses, starving, committing suicide, warring… The world is full of suffering and everyone is suffering – because everyone is ignorant (si mê).

The entire world is a suffering sea. When we see this clearly, we feel for humanity and love humanity, the whole of humanity, leaving no one out.

That’s it, brothers and sisters. Look deeply at the suffering world, and you will deeply feel for and love the whole humanity.

With compassion,

Hoành

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Trần Đình Hoành
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