Speeches of Hyo Jin Moon 2006-2008
Delivered Sunday at Belvedere Estate in Tarrytown, New York
Hyo Jin Moon Speaks on Compassion, Page 117

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Compassion

July 9,2006

How are you doing? Good morning. (Good morning.) Today I want to talk about "Compassion." What is compassion? I feel it is very important for us to think about that and live with stuff like that on a daily basis. We need it to realize what is greater. True love, that's very difficult. I don't want to just talk about it. One way or the other if you want it you have to get it.

So, let's talk about something we can understand. Talk about compassion. Latin stuff, com- together in passion means to suffer, to suffer together. That's what compassion is. You have this kind of sorrow for other people who are suffering, who have problems. And you want to do something about it. If you want to go by the dictionary, that's what it says. You want to help somebody, you want to do something to reach out to somebody because you know they're in a funk.

Okay, now, before we get to compassion, let's talk about our basic subject, our individual selves. What is generosity? How do people become generous? Many times, you really don't think about it. It just happens. Generosity happens because you think you have something more than you need and in a moment's thought you just do something for somebody else. Sharing whatever you've got. That's about it, isn't it?

Basically that's what it is. That's what generosity is. You do it at the spur of the moment because you think you have something to give. If I have more money than I normally use I can do that kind of stuff. People become generous because they have something to begin with and people act on generously because they have something. They have more than what they need. So, yeah, okay.

Compassion is different. Compassion says you need to feel something. You have to feel sorrow for somebody. You have to feel something for the plight of others first. You don't just automatically go into your good intention or give because you are made that way, or because you have something. There is thought involved. That addition of a kind of thinking process, that is the kind of growth stage. You can call generous a formation stage, then obviously when something provokes you to think and reach far beyond, that is a growth stage. It's on an intellectual plane.

To feel compassion is very, very important for you to understand about love. If love is perfection, compassion is the way that you can understand how love works—because you are going to think a whole lot about it. You are going to struggle with it.

For example, I try to make documentaries and try to find all these people who are supposedly giving something to others. But it's not really the case, you know. Even this kind of thing becomes based on the dollar. There aren't that many charity organizations that give 80 percent of the dollar. Eighty cents to a dollar, 70 cents to a dollar. It is most likely 50 cents on the dollar. What's that?

Having said that, now how do you believe what's happening when you are given to those charities. The little dollar that you give because you care. That's why it's important that you show what compassion is, how to think about giving. How to be generous by giving. You have to know why you want to give.

For crying out loud, are you Bill Gates, I mean, or whoever, what's his name, second richest guy, Warren Buffett, he gave 31 billion dollars to the Bill Gates Foundation. I mean, you know, if you're over 50. Anyway, he's the second guy. Hey, look, if you have a few billion dollars, you are going to be well off. It doesn't matter how old you are.

With that money, you can go do a whole lot of stuff, sure. You just go and literally tackle whatever that is poignant and feasible. Most likely you will do it in medicine.

When you have that kind of money, let's say you got 80 billion dollars. When you have that kind of money, you can literally take on many, many operations. That means 200 million dollars or whatever, 300 million dollars, let say just 200 million. You can literally pour 30, 40, 50 operations just on the 200 million dollar level. That's the kind of money we are talking about. Okay, but they're doing a lot of this. They can actually make a difference because they're investing in something. Because in the end, it comes down to creativity. We need to be involved in creativity. We need to be involved in things like the arts. Simply put, art is very, very cryptic and it changes too fast and it is a pain in the neck. I don't encourage people to be in it unless you are willing to die for it. There are things that are more safe and still allow you to be in creativity. Whether it's engineering or structural or architectural design. It doesn't matter. Something like that or medicine or what else is there? Anyway.

For medicine, you get into medicine, engineering, or be a scientist getting into crazy stuff, in the end, something that's more secure. You need to have some definition. You need this every single second of your life. If you do this, you'll have a better chance. But I believe that's what we need to do. Our children need to do. That's practice. Why? Because it matters in the end. Because I'm, you know, for me personally, I do have a good accountant, very good. Not a church member. I used him for all sorts of different stuff, corporations and stuff. He's a good guy. He knows his stuff. But he needs to believe in something. And in the end, I have to be responsible for that guy. Why? Because he's my guy.

What does that have to do with compassion? Well, let's think about yourself and see where you are at. When you teach your children about giving something. When you are teaching your children how to behave. What kind of an experience would put a smile on your face, and on the face of your children, you know what I mean. What did you do to teach them about generosity per se. Say you have something, then the little brothers and sisters know that you got something and they want a piece of it. And why not. Now, that's the drama, isn't it? That's where drama begins.

What happens to the kid who holds that something that the other little monkeys want? What does that little kid do? Now, you are in control, you people. You know how that story should end because you know all those comic superhero stories. You know how the heroic stories should end, right? Anyway, you are going to somehow divert your children to that story. And it's only that. Dot, dot, dot. It is not difficult.

You have to try to teach them how to be generous. And we're not talking about compassion here. It's just one tenth of the goal for something, right? How can you guys—you can't give something unless you got something, right? Now, what to do? That's what you are trying to teach your children. You give what you got. Why do you give it?

Now, if you give that kind of thing, you have something to work with, something to move it to the next level, right? You can talk about the next step. Compassion kind of stuff. Because, you give because you feel something. Before true love, you better think about what giving is. You know what I'm saying? You don't just do it, you better think it. You better know what you are thinking about when you are giving and you better know what that reason is and it better not be self-centered, you guys. All right?

Now, doing that is a process of becoming compassionate. No, I didn't make this rule. That's the way it is. You can't think about yourself when you think about being generous to other people. Just to be defined as compassionate, that's what you got to do. And that's the rule. You understand? Otherwise, it is not action based on compassion. I don't care if you're uncomfortable. That's about it. So, you better give, do you understand young kids? You better give your up your stuff.

I want to reach out to those little monkeys and I'm going to give it out. No, no, no, no. That's not compassion. I think that is called desperation. You want something in-between your legs and you are just being stupid. Okay? You will never make that into compassion no matter what. I don't care if the world stands up upside down tomorrow.