[OlgaBorovikovva]

A Christian pastor once said to me, "Eastern spiritual practitioners focus on their own practice and become complacent." He made me think of Buddhists. It seems that faithful Christians are very attentive to other people's sufferings and take swift actions to help them in any way they can, even when these suffering are arising from disasters, conflicts, starvation, and diseases, which can be threatening to their own lives.



We, Buddhists, are interested in cultivating our inner qualities. We may not want to engage in worldly affairs. Before helping others, we need to develop capacity to cope with our own sufferings skillfully, but when will we be ready to help others? Should we wait until we are enlightened? People are suffering at the present moment.

We cultivate compassion toward all living beings. For this purpose, should we be more socially engaged?