15/07/2009

On this day in 1966, the management of Euston Station in London ended its ban on employing black workers. I don’t know about you, but my first reaction was one of amazement – that such enormous discrimination existed in my own country, within my own lifetime. What on earth were we thinking of?

The importance of treating every person as an equal is central to the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama starts most of his teachings with the words “Every living being seeks to find happiness and avoid suffering.” It’s the great leveller. He goes on to propose that we can never find that happiness for ourselves unless we pay attention to the same need in everyone else.

Unfortunately our first impulse is often just to look after number one. How often do we wait in line, say in a school or staff canteen, and worried that the tastiest food will run out before we get to the top of the queue? Or made a dash for the best seat in the cinema or on the train? When we divide the world into ‘me’ and ‘everyone else’ it creates a natural tendency to put our own interests – and prejudices - first.

The antidote proposed by almost every spiritual tradition is to realise that putting a smile on a fellow human being’s face will bring more pleasure and satisfaction than grabbing the last chocolate brownie or sitting in the front row. By treating other people with fairness and equanimity, we create the kind of world that we actually want for ourselves. It’s the golden rule.