As we continue reading the Way of the Bodhisattva, I find myself thinking about the idea of aspiring for the happiness of others and what that means. It occurred to me this week that achieving your own happiness is like hoping to fill a small shot glass full of water. Whereas wanting happiness for all of humanity (or even beyond that for all sentient beings) is like aspiring for the ocean to be full of water.
It follows then that the water in a small glass of water can be quickly lost. However, the water in the ocean will take thousands of years to dry up, assuming it ever will. It is not a perfect analogy, but if you move your aspiration to the happiness of others, and put less focus on the water in your own glass, so to speak, you will be less affected by the constant fluctuations of fortune that we all experience.
Also, this seems to me to be a very rational approach. Conscious investment in one individual's happiness puts a lot of your energy in one basket. Let's face it, a lot of life is chance. We all like to think that we are happy or successful by our own efforts alone, but it is probable that just as much is influenced by luck. Therefore spending your energy on a larger pool is a way to make a wiser investment.
After all, the final argument one could make is that if you spend your life pursuing happiness for yourself, at the moment of your death that happiness will expire totally. On the other hand, if we concern ourselves with the well being of others, we can rest assured that it will definitely out live us. And the bigger our circle of care and compassion is, the more confident we can be that it will last long beyond our individual lives.
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