Selflessness, the key to Happiness

Selflessness, the key to Happiness

By Desmond Yeoh SC

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The Dalai Lama said that we suffer because we take the Self as the most important person; our selfishness is the cause of all our suffering. I do not need to ‘believe’ this statement because I can observe this truth in real life. I have noticed many times that One who treats himself as a VIP tend to be unhappy and needs to put in a lot of effort to appear happy. However, he tends to be easily annoyed by any perceived mistreatment or ‘disrespect’ by others. If he does not get annoyed, he adopts the victim mentality and thinks that the whole world is against him. He is easily offended when others talk negatively about him and becomes overly self-conscious.

On the other hand, a bodhisattva focuses his attention on others instead of himself and as such, is able to remain at peace while serving others. He directs his mental energy towards helping others instead of complaining about the world.

Giving too much importance to ourselves brings a lot of unnecessary mental suffering. We will always be complaining about the world and can never find contentment.  When we start helping others, we begin to see the good things that we have; this generates the feeling of gratitude and contentment within us.

One example of a person who helps others selflessly and derives happiness from it is Robin, a disciple of Master Tony Chew (Picture). It can be very inspiring to meet or hear about compassionate beings who serve others selflessly and that is why I am sharing his story in this article.

Robin has been devoting his life to serving Master Tony for more than twenty years. His typical day involves going to help out in a fellow disciple’s vegetarian restaurant. After closing, he will rest a while and then proceed to conduct prayer sessions, together with a group of other devotees, by chanting ‘OM AMI DEWA SEY’ at homes of other followers who need help. If the follower is hospitalized, he will visit them at the hospital.  After that, he usually gets back to the Pu Xian Centre in Jalan Ipoh Kecil at around half past ten in the evening where he will lead the chanting of the mantra for at least an hour for the sake of world peace and healing. He will then stay there to help out until the Master meets all his followers; which usually end around half past two the next morning. After that, he will conduct further prayer sessions at the homes of other followers who have serious problems. He usually gets back home after four in the morning. He will sleep for about four hours and then get to work at the vegetarian restaurant again. He does this every day!

Despite the long hours of helping others, he always appears energetic and ready to help. He is truly a great example of how selflessness can lead to inner-peace and happiness. May all beings have the opportunity to meet with and be inspired by someone like this kind being.