[Vnbiz] [vnbiz] Leadership -- Expanding on Core Elements: Compassion

[Tran Dinh Hoanh]

Dear CACC,

In this message I will expand "the rule of law" and "the rule of compassion"
a little further into the political scene.  This message is for everyone,
but the specific audience I have in mind is the youths who want to be
political leaders some day and the current political leaders. If your
parent, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, friend is a current political leader,
I would very much appreciate your forwarding this message to them and
bringing back to me their comments.  Thanks a million in advance, brothers
and sisters.

As I mentioned in the previous message (below), the rule of law is to
maintain the minimum level of human conduct, the bottom level of conduct.
The rule of law insures a society survival, bare survival, so to speak.

But the rule of compassion helps the society become greatness.

Unfortunately, today we hear again and again every day on the media that
Vietnam needs to be a nation of law, a nation ruled by the rule of law.
What does that mean?  Does that mean that we, as a nation and as a
government, are now below the minimum level of conduct and we have to have
the rule of law to insure the lowest level of conduct?

Well, if you look at the massive amount of corruption at all levels of
government and compared that with nations around the world, the answer is
"Yes."  The amount of dishonesty, cheating, lying, stealing, corrupting in
our government is horrendous, much below the world average.  That's the bad
news.

Fortunately, many leaders in the government have been constantly raising a
war against corruption.  And that's the good news.

But going back 60 years ago, during the anti-French time, through the
American War, till 1975 in the North, we didn't have law at all.  The law
was the VCP.  The VCP issued orders and everyone followed.  That was it.
But the nation did very well, it won the two wars.

Why?

Because during those time, the nation was ruled by a great inspiration for
"independence, freedom and happiness."  Ho Chi Minh was a great leader, who
really had compassion of his people and who took his people's fire into his
heart, and brought fire out from his heart back to his people.  VCP members
were idealistic and clean.  They lived for the country and died for the
country.

In short, the nation was ruled by the rule of compassion.  The nation was
great and was doing great deeds - i.e. winning over the superpowers of the
world.

[Note:  Pres. Ho Chi Minh and the VCP did have some big management mistakes
that I have mentioned previoulsy, but those are not relevent here]

So you see, even when we have no rule of law, we can do great deeds if we
have the rule of compassion.

After the two wars, the VCP, with no more war to fight, with the full power
over the people, became arrogant, lazy, fat, heavy, sluggish, and corrupt.
Many VCP members were no longer patriotic and idealistic; they
became thieves and robbers.  That was how our nation fell from greatness to
scum.  And that is why today we have no more fire, no more inspiration, no
more idealism in our political scene.  Instead, we struggle just to
establish the rule of law, to insure the minimum level of human conduct for
bare survival.  What a shame!

It is a good thing that we are trying to establish the rule of law.  *But how
about the great fire, the great inspiration*?

Now we have no war, no heroic death to perform, no defiant smile under the
enemy's bomb.  How are we, the leaders, plan to bring inspiration back to
this nation?

May I suggest one simple thing:  *The true hero of our time is the leader
who simply stays clean and honest, staving off the incredible pressure from
everyone around to lie, to cheat and to take bribe. *

Our people need heroes to look up to, to have hope, to have some inspiration
going.  Be a hero.  Be someone's hero.

Yes, staving off the every-day pressure to cheat and lie and take bribe is
one of the most difficult wars a person has to fight.  It is not only the
war against a lot of pressure from friends and relatives but also a war
against our own fear and weakness.  The war against our Self is always the
most difficult war to win.

But our people need heroes to look up to.

And our nation need to be ruled by compassion and inspiration, to become
greatness.

Will you be willing to fight that war, to be a hero, for the sake of our
children, our people, our nation?

Have a great day!

Hoanh
____________

On 8/6/07, Tran Dinh Hoanh <tdhoanh at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dear CACC,
>
> In this message I will go over "the rule of law" and "the rule of
> compassion."
>
> Think about Riedl, the coach of Vietnam soccer team, who tries to build a
> championship team in the international arena.  He must discipline his team
> by a set of rules that his players have to follow, such coming to the
> practice on time, going to bed early during practice season, etc...   That
> is the rule of law.  Rule of law ensures a minimum level of conduct--the
> floor of conduct, so to speak.  No one is allowed to fall below that minimum
> level.
>
> But rule of law cannot create a super-team.  For his team to be a
> champion, the players have to get along with one another very well--No one
> tries to stab his friends in the back, and everyone treats other team
> members like brothers, they have to understand each other's thinking, habits
> and movements very well during play.  They have to have very high team
> spirit--no one tries to keep the ball for himself during
> play.  Everyone likes the coach and is not constantly upset at him.
> Everyone has to have the great fire in his heart that pushes him to work and
> work and work for the team to win and win and win.
>
> What generates this kind of passion in the heart is not rule of law, but
> inspiration, which comes from compassion--compassion for the team, for other
> team members, compassion for the coach, compassion for the game, compassion
> for the winning spirit.
>
> In any group of people, be it a small student group, a company or a
> country, we need 2 kinds of rule:  Rule of law and rule of compassion.  The
> rule of law insures the minimum level of conduct, for the group to survive.
> The rule of compassion gives the people the high spirit to be a champion.
>
> The problem with so many managers and "leaders" is that they only know how
> to use the law.  The constantly talk about the rules and laws, lecture their
> people about the rules, and are ready to throw the rule book at their people
> every time they need to "coach" them.  We can easily see that this is the
> "losing leadership."  You simply cannot build a winning team by sticking
> low to the floor, to the minimum level of conduct.
>
> Instead, you need to inspire your team members, put fire into their heart,
> turn each one of them into a tiger.  You need to inspire them, make them
> love the fight, make them love their comrades, make them love you, make them
> love victory, put their heart on fire.  Once you focus on building this
> passion, you can safely put the rule book back on the shelf, because you
> won't need it. In a championwhip team you rarely talk about rule; you talk
> about fire.
>
> And there is no set of rules to help you put fire into people's heart.
> You must (1) have the fire in your heart and (2) are so close to your people
> that (3) your fire with be spread from your heart to their hearts.
>
> Have a great day!
>
> Hoanh
>
> _______________
>
>
>  On 8/3/07, Tran Dinh Hoanh <tdhoanh at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Dear CACC,
> >
> > In the last message I talked about listening as a major component of
> > compassion (and as the most important communication skill).  And while
> > talking about listening I mentioned "sensitivity" many times--the more
> > sensitive we are, the better we can listen.  In this message, I like to talk
> > a bit about the technique to develop your sensitivity.
> >
> > As a matter of natural law, compassion gives birth to sensitivity--if
> > you have compassion, your compassion will give you sensitivity.  And when
> > you have sensitivity, your listening (and sensing) skill will develop very
> > well.  So if you have compassion, you don't really have to learn much about
> > the technique to develop sensitivity.
> >
> > But to speed up the process, I would like share with you some technique
> > to develop our sensitivity today.  These are simple techniques, but to
> > master them, you just have to practice, practice, and practice every day.
> >
> > 1.  Keep your mind *absolutely free of any prejudice in a conversation*.
> > Say,  you chat with a taxi driver for fifteen minutes.  Make sure you have
> > no prejudice about him in your mind, such as taxi drivers don't have high
> > education, they may cheat you if you don't know you way around, this guy
> > looks questionable, etc.
> >
> > The problem is that, most of the time, we don't recognize that we have
> > prejudice.  Prejudice usually works at our subconscious level.  So prejudice
> > is there and it works to control us, but we don't see it.  The simple method
> > to keep prejudice away is asking yourself (during the conversation):  "If
> > this taxi driver is the president of Vietnam (or the Pope, or my favorite
> > singer My Linh) would I talk to him the way I am talking now?
> >
> > After many practices for many days, or months, or years, you will start
> > to realize that you mind is free of prejudice most of the time, and when you
> > have no prejudice, chances are you will be able to spot prejudice every time
> > it tries to sneak back into your mind.  Then you will see that your
> > understanding of the person you are talking to (whoever that person is)
> > increases tremendously within a simple conversation.
> >
> > 2.  Our ego and our self-love always exist in us.  They never go away.
> > But ego and self-love tend to make us more sensitive about ourselves and
> > less sensitive about others.  So in each conversation with anyone, including
> > children and people with no formal education, tell yourself:  *"There
> > must be some valuable thing I can learn from this conversation.  If I don't
> > learn anything, I am just not good enough at the art of learning."  *This
> > kind of thinking tends to make us more humble and help us treat our
> > conversation partner with more respect and depth.
> >
> > 3.  Practice *follow-up questions*.  If she says, "I work 12 hours a
> > day, from 6 am till 6 pm," don't say "Is you business good this month?"
> > Instead, say something closely following her sentence, like "Wow, 12 hours a
> > day, who take are of your kids?"
> >
> > 4.  Talk about *emotion and feeling*, like, "Working long hours like
> > that, you can't spend much time with your kids, can you?  You miss them?"
> >
> > 5.  Talk about *personal things*.  When you talk with someone, ask her
> > about her life, her family, her job, her children, her wishes, and her
> > desires, and don't just stay with non-personal things like politics or
> > religion or sports or business.  Train yourself to be *genuinely
> > interested in other people's lives*.
> >
> > Of course, these are general rules of practice.  Make exceptions to the
> > rule whenever you see fit.  But stick with these rules as much as you can,
> > in every conversation each day.  If you do these seriously, you will soon
> > become anothrr person, much more sensitive, much more compassionate, much
> > more humble, and much sharper in perception and thinking.
> >
> > Trust me.
> >
> > Hope this helps.  If only one person gains the benefit from my writing,
> > my mission is accomplished.
> >
> > Have a great day!
> >
> > Hoanh
> >
> >
> >  On 7/29/07, Tran Dinh Hoanh <tdhoanh at gmail.com > wrote:
> > >
> > > Dear CACC,
> > >
> > > In this message I will  talk about another major element of
> > > compassion:  Listening.
> > >
> > > Have you ever been in love?  If yes, probably you would agree
> > > that when you are in love, your antenna is up to pick up any little signal
> > > from the one you love.  When you're in love, you listen extremely well.
> > >
> > > Also, you probably have experienced situations when you try to tell
> > > something to someone hundreds of times, starting subtly, then increasing in
> > > intensity, until you have to scream, and the person seems to never get what
> > > you want to say?
> > >
> > > Listening has a lot to do with our emotional state.  The more
> > > compassion we have, the better we can listen.
> > >
> > > But listening is very hard for a leader, for a number of reasons:
> > >
> > > 1.  For most of us humans, listening is much harder than talking.
> > > Talking is less tiring, everything is already in your head, you don't have
> > > to process new information.  Listening requires that you constantly process
> > > the new information from what you hear.
> > >
> > > 2.  For a egoistic leader, most people under him are less intelligent
> > > than him and don't have much to offer.
> > >
> > > 3.  Most leaders are so busy, they don't even mean what they say, not
> > > mentioning listening.  He may greet you "Good morning, how are you?"  and as
> > > you say "I am very good today, how are you?" you realize that he has
> > > already turned the corner, not so much as giving you a second glance, and
> > > obviously oblivious that he has just asked you a question.
> > >
> > > 4.  Many leaders don't want to hear about unpleasant things, about
> > > things that show their weaknesses, about things that are against their plan
> > > and vision, about things they disagree upon.
> > >
> > > So it usually ends up that leaders avoid things they dislike and
> > > people who say things they dislike.  Consequentially, leaders usually hear
> > > only what they want to hear.  Their lieutenants only tell them what they
> > > want to hear, in many cases the lieutenants would go so far as to lie
> > > and submit false reports just to please the leader.
> > >
> > > So when you are in a leadership position, your ability to hear is
> > > naturally limited by the nature of your position.  In addition, listening is
> > > an art that needs to be practice.  How are you going to be so sensitive to
> > > your people's voice that you can pick up a fleeting common within a sea of
> > > noises, like a lover in love?  Here is where compassion comes into play. If
> > > you are truly compassionate about your people, you will hear every cry so
> > > clear.  Every drop of tear, every whimpering sob hurts and burns your
> > > heart.  Your ability to pick up voices and information are a thousand
> > > times higher than a leader that is not compassionate about his people.
> > >
> > > *So if you are in a leadership position, 2 things you need to do all
> > > the time*:
> > >
> > > *1.  Make everyone feel comfortable about talking with you about
> > > unpleasant things*.  This is easier talked than done.  How do you
> > > normally react to such unpleasant talk will give you the reputation of "open
> > > and easy to talk to" or "an egoistic narrow-minded SOB."
> > >
> > > I usually train my people like this:  "Unpleasant information is
> > > always rare to hear.  Most people in the world will not tell you  about
> > > unpleasant things.   Most will tell you only things you want to hear.  That
> > > is human nature.  Generally, no one likes to go out to make other people
> > > unhappy.  Therefore, unpleasant information is rare to come by.  That
> > > makes unpleasant information valuable.  When someone gives you a piece of
> > > unpleasant info, be grateful to him, be happy, because whether you like it
> > > or not, you have just got a piece of rare information."
> > >
> > > "When a client complains, treat her like a great friend, because if
> > > she is not good to you, she just stops doing business with you without ever
> > > saying anything to you.  Then you don't even know that a have just lost a
> > > customer."
> > >
> > > I remember the chairman of Ritz Carton (an outstanding hotel chain.  I
> > > rank the Ritz the best among the big chains) once said that "The information
> > > he loves the most is customer complaint, because that is the surest channel
> > > for him to know how his company is doing."
> > >
> > >    *  If you're in business, every time your customer gives you some
> > > kind of complaint, do something to make them happy.  Apologize, say
> > > thanks, fix whatever she complains about, and give her a discount, even when
> > > you know that they are wrong and you are right.  That is just a very small
> > > cost for great PR.
> > >
> > > (There will be a very rare time you need to take your stand for some
> > > reason, say, a constantly abusive customer that really annoys other
> > > customers.  But that is a very rare chance.  Even with abusive customers,
> > > you usually can soft talk them into being nice).
> > >
> > >     *  When people give you some kind of criticism, think about that
> > > immediately as constructive criticism (even though the person may not be so
> > > constructive to you.
> > >
> > >    *  Watch your body language.  Your body says much more than you
> > > think.  Do you lean back with crossed arms in a challenging and defensive
> > > posture?  Or do you lean forward, with perked ears and wide-open eyes?
> > >
> > >    *   What do you say and do so that person know that you really
> > > appreciate his input (regardless whether you ultimately agree or not)?
> > >
> > > 2.  *Try to know your people personally and directly as much as you
> > > can, and don't just rely on general reports.  *
> > > **
> > > The more you know about someone, the easier for you to have compassion
> > > for that person, the better you can listen to him/her.  Normally a
> > > person you only know the name from newspaper is not as close to you as a
> > > person you know personally.
> > >
> > > If you want to know your "people of Vietnam," do you ever take time to
> > > chat to a shoe shining boy on the street?  Asking him about his street life,
> > > his parents, his job, his dreams and wishes?
> > >
> > > How about beggars, cyclo drivers, xe om drivers, farmers, etc.?  The
> > > more we know people DIRECTLY (versus through books and newspapers), the more
> > > we become compassionate to them, the more we are sensitive to their voice.
> > >
> > >
> > > *  Same thing with your employees/subordinates.  How do you make your
> > > employees feel welcome to talk to you about hard things?  Do you, as an
> > > employee, feel comfortable talking to your boss about hard things?  Not
> > > easy, isn't it?  How many times you and your coworkers talk about the
> > > company and the boss, but none of you would say any of that to the boss
> > > himself.  Talking to the boss is never easy.  Consequently, when you are the
> > > boss, making your employees/subordinates  feel easy talking to you is indeed
> > > very difficult job.
> > >
> > > You need to keep some "professional distance" from your employees to
> > > be able to do your "boss job," but you still have to be close enough for
> > > them to be comfortable talking to you.  Not easy at all.  My solution is
> > > that I will hang out with my employees once in a while, always show them
> > > that I care for them individually, and whenever they say something, I will
> > > make great effort to solicit them to go further into more details with me.
> > > I try to know as much as I can about my employees' family and life outside
> > > work, because friends will know about things like that.  Knowing their
> > > personal issues (just enough not to invade their privacy) helps me feel
> > > closer to them and makes them closer to me.
> > >
> > > But I still have to rely a lot from my lieutenants, who are closer to
> > > other employees.  My lieutenants bridge the gap between me and my
> > > employees.  I admit that I have not found the method to close the gap
> > > altogether.  I can shorten the gap, but i cannot make it disappear.  The
> > > issue then is "Are my lieutenants comfortable enough about telling me the
> > > truth they know?"
> > >
> > > *But here is the highest level of listening--You simply SENSE things
> > > without being told anything.  *When you are in love with someone, you
> > > simply sense that she is happy, unhappy, annoyed, energetic, disturbed, etc.
> > > without her ever saying anything to you.
> > >
> > > I am so in love with Vietnam for so long that I have always been able
> > > to see major Vietnam events long before they actually happen (like the lost
> > > of the South, the post-1975 corruption epidemic, the opening up of the
> > > country and the reform (I predicted these two things in May or June 1975 to
> > > a group of friends in refugee camp, when I was 22), the ability of the VCP
> > > to withstand the collapse of Soviet Union (I predicted this in 1989 to a
> > > group of Vietnamse politicos), etc.
> > >
> > > A part of it is from learning and experience--You mull over Vietnam
> > > issues for so long, you can just see things before they happen.  But a major
> > > part of it is that I am ultra-sensitive to Vietnam issues.  I just sense
> > > things before they show themselves.
> > >
> > > In June or July 1996, I visited with professor Phan Dinh Dieu in Hanoi
> > > and he asked me how I felt the country was doing.  At that time, Vietnam was
> > > doing every well, and all kinds of rosy reports from the government and
> > > international institutions were flying high.  But I told anh Dieu: "I think
> > > the country is getting into an economic crisis.  No one sees it now.  But
> > > the most is one year from now, everyone will see it.  It could even be 6
> > > months."  He asked, "How do you know?"  I said, "Two things.  By my
> > > estimation, the reform measures that the VCP instituted have unleashed a lot
> > > of people's energy.  But that energy will last only about 10 years.  After
> > > 10 years that energy will be exhausted, we will have an economic crisis, and
> > > we will need another wave of reform to open more energy.  I think Doi Moi
> > > really started (unofficially) in 1996, now is 2006, due time.
> > >
> > > "The second thing is that last week I walked on Quang Trung streets
> > > and the xe om folks worked very hard to get me to use them.  They worked
> > > much harder than all the previous time when I was here.  Other
> > > street vendors are not so clear as the xe om, but looks like they try harder
> > > to sell too.  It means, economic life on the street has started to be hard
> > > already. That must be the onset of the crisis I am waiting to happen."
> > >
> > > Sure enough, in the early 1997 a serious crisis was seen in Vietnam,
> > > which later prompted another major wave of reform.  (Incidentally, the
> > > Asian financial crisis occurred during that time, probably middle 1997(?)
> > > But I did not see the Asian crisis coming, because I was not as focused on
> > > Asia as on Vietnam).
> > >
> > > What I am trying to say by this example is that you can sense things
> > > very well without anyone saying anything, without any kind of report,  You
> > > are so sensitive to so many little things that you can just see things long
> > > before they happen.  *Your sensitivity, and therefore your
> > > understanding,  comes naturally from your compassion.*
> > > **
> > > Among all the communication skills that a leader needs, I think
> > > listening is the most important communication skill.   You don't have to be
> > > an orator to be a leader, but I don't think you can be a good leader if you
> > > are not a good listener.  You simply cannot understand your people (the
> > > people you lead) if you cannot listen very well.  And listening requires
> > > both an attentive ear and a compassionate heart
> > >
> > > Have a great day!
> > >
> > > Hoanh
> > >
> > >  On 7/25/07, Tran Dinh Hoanh <tdhoanh at gmail.com > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Dear CACC,
> > > >
> > > > In the previous messages we have had an exercise of randomly
> > > > mentioning the leadership qualities, and then concentrating them into a
> > > > passion, manageable number of 4 core elements:  Vision, Compassion,
> > > > Competence, Honesty.  And I have mentioned previously that in any study
> > > > subject, the subject's core elements serves as the North Star, everything
> > > > else flows from it.
> > > >
> > > > From this message, we will expand on these 4 core elements, to
> > > > examine what flow out from them.  Today, I will examine Compassion.
> > > >
> > > > In management classes, compassion is also be known as "caring."  You
> > > > have compassion for your people, or you love your people, or you care about
> > > > your people, they all mean the same  thing in our current context.
> > > >
> > > > Your compassion comes into play in almost every act and decision you
> > > > make every day concerning your clients or your employees. Compassion along
> > > > with honesty determine the culture of your organization.
> > > >
> > > > Do you feel about your employees as "your employees" or as "your
> > > > friends" or "comrades"?  That would make a lot of difference in your
> > > > employee policy.
> > > >
> > > > Do you feel about your clients/customers as friends or simply as
> > > > someone who may give you money?  That makes a lot of difference in how
> > > > you (and your employees) treat your customers, and consequentially a lot of
> > > > difference in whether or not you will be successful.
> > > >
> > > > Note:  In management school, they tend to teach "employment policy"
> > > > and "customer policy" out of nowhere.  That is fine.  School is not equipped
> > > > to teach matters deep in the heart.  Actually, most courses on leadership
> > > > today cannot be called leadership courses, because they stick with easy
> > > > things on the surface, like organizations, communication (written, oral)
> > > > skills, managing your time, etc.
> > > >
> > > > Things that really matters, things deep in the heart that control
> > > > our thinking and our actions, are not mentioned at all.  The result is that
> > > > people have gone to courses after courses on "leadership," and still don't
> > > > understand what leadership is, not mentioning mastering it.  I am sure that
> > > > many of you have this experience.  Brother Thien mentioned that previously,
> > > > himself.
> > > >
> > > > Leadership starts with you, your heart, your thinking, your
> > > > behavior.  So in practice, we need to realize that policy comes from our
> > > > heart.  Say, if you copy a "great customer policy" from someone else, while
> > > > in your heart you constantly feel that customers are just the fat cows for
> > > > you to squeeze some milk, then that "great customer policy" will just be
> > > > useless and will be ruined by you.  Policy is not just a document out
> > > > there.  Policy, both the policy language and its execution, comes from our
> > > > heart.
> > > >
> > > > At this juncture, we should go over some of the compassion measures
> > > > and Shane has mentioned previously.
> > > >
> > > > 1.  Never ask your followers to do things you are not willing to do
> > > > yourself.  This is obvious. I often ask "Were Johnson, Nixon, etc. willing
> > > > to go to Vietnam and fight the way they sent people's children there?  Was
> > > > Bush willing to go to Iraq and fight himself?"
> > > >
> > > > It is easy to sit in an office and decree that many people go to
> > > > their death.  But if we are truly compassionate to our people, we never ask
> > > > them to do things that we are not willing to do ourselves.  (The opposite is
> > > > true with mafia and other unethical leaders.   The leader would send an
> > > > associate to do the crime so that the leader can keep his hands clean for
> > > > the law).
> > > >
> > > > 2.  Be fair to all of your people. No favoritism.  It is practical.
> > > > Because if you favor one group over other groups, you may split your
> > > > organization in pieces some day.  This also means fair in reward and
> > > > punishment.
> > > >
> > > > 3.  Taking care of the organization and preventing from being
> > > > destroyed, even if you have to sacrifice a group of your people.  Anh Shane
> > > > told the story of the ship captain deciding to seal of a compartment of the
> > > > ship, killing 4 sailors inside, to prevent the fire spreading from that
> > > > compartment to the entire ship.  This is great example of making hard
> > > > heart-wrenching.  (My God!  I hope that I will never have to make a choice
> > > > like that).
> > > >
> > > > Same thing with firing an employee or a group of employees.   It is
> > > > always heart-wrenching and head-aching to fire an employee.  You are hurting
> > > > someone's career and paycheck and, sometimes, life.  Except for some
> > > > sadists, I don't think anyone of us enjoys firing people.  In addition, some
> > > > other employees may even get upset when you fire someone.  But if you have
> > > > to do that to prevent the organization from being damaged, then you just
> > > > have to do what you have to do.
> > > >
> > > > But here is also the most abusive problem in leadership throughout
> > > > history.  Many leaders have crucified one group of people in the country, in
> > > > the name of saving the entire country.  In recent history, Hitler ruthlessly
> > > > killed the Jews in the name of the Aryan nation.  The Communists are
> > > > legendary in inflicting miseries on the merchants, the property owners, the
> > > > capitalists, the bourgeois, in the name of making the entire people more
> > > > equitable and more happy!   (Sorry for the Communist brothers/sisters.  I
> > > > now that Communists today is not those of the old days.  But I just have to
> > > > use recent history examples that everyone knows, to make my writing
> > > > clearer).
> > > >
> > > > Harassing, jailing, torturing, killing millions of people in the
> > > > name of "saving the nation," "saving the people," "moving the people and the
> > > > nation forward" etc. have been the slogan of mass murderers throughout
> > > > history.
> > > >
> > > > The problem is that many of these mass murders really believe that
> > > > they were helping their nation and their people while cutting other people's
> > > > throats!
> > > >
> > > > Why?
> > > >
> > > > Because many people do not know that their mind can deceive them
> > > > into a monster.  Some dumb political theory, some extreme zeal to save the
> > > > world, some self-aggrandizing allusion, or some sadistic impulse may easily
> > > > turn some guys with unchecked power and without a solid foundation of
> > > > ethics, i.e., humbleness and compassion, into a monster.
> > > >
> > > > Great virtues--compassion, humbleness, honesty, loyalty--always act
> > > > as a solid foundation for us humans to stand on to keep our bearing at all
> > > > time.
> > > >
> > > > How do we not fall into the mental trap of "serving the whole while
> > > > destroying the part"?  This is a very tricky issue.  When a surgery to cut
> > > > your arm is good for your body, when cutting the arm simply weakens your
> > > > body without any benefit?
> > > >
> > > > My intuitive answer is:  Cutting the arm is never good for my body.
> > > > I don't want to cut my arm.  If you tell me I should cut my arm, I will ask
> > > > for a second, a third, a fourth medical opinion, and try anything possible
> > > > not to cut it, until I know that I have absolutely no choice.  (Of course,
> > > > taking the time factor in consideration, such as the ship fire in anh
> > > > Shane's example).
> > > >
> > > > In politics (or business) it is translated into "I will do anything
> > > > I can to keep this group of 'trouble makers' with me, until I know that I
> > > > have absolutely no choice but cutting them off."
> > > >
> > > > And I only have the strength and patience to work to keep them if I
> > > > have true compassion for them.  *I care for each of them
> > > > individually in my heart,* I care for them as I care for my own
> > > > arm.  I don't treat them just as "a group of trouble makers" that I have to
> > > > get rid of in order to "save the nation."  Each of my trouble makers is my
> > > > citizen with a name (Xuan or Hoa or Thinh) and a face, s/he is my
> > > > brother/sister, who has a life, a family, bills to pay, children to raise,
> > > > job to keep.  Any misery I may inflict on any of them also hurts
> > > > their spouses, parents, children, brothers/sisters and also hurts me in my
> > > > heart.  So I will try to reduce misery for them as much as I can.  I will
> > > > try my utmost to work with them, and bring them into the family.  I will NOT
> > > > cut them off unless I am absolutely sure I have tried everything else and I
> > > > have no other choice. And if I have to cut them off, I will try to reduce
> > > > their miseries as much as I can.
> > > >
> > > > Only when we have the intense compassion toward each CONCRETE person
> > > > individually, and not just compassion toward the ABSTRACT idea of "the
> > > > entire people" or "the entire nation," we will have the mental clarity to
> > > > keep us away from the trap of becoming a zealous mass torturer, and to do
> > > > what is best for everyone under the circumstances.
> > > >
> > > > Compassion means compassion for each person walking the street.  Not
> > > > compassion for the abstract "people" only.  "The People" is a concept that
> > > > does not really exist.  What really exists is many concrete humans walking
> > > > the street.
> > > >
> > > > I'd like to conclude this message by thank you and Shane for the
> > > > great list and by reminding everyone about what great masters of old have
> > > > said over and over again throughout history: Our mind is a monkey, very easy
> > > > to get out of control.  A humble spirit, a true compassion for others will
> > > > always act as the great mechanism to keep our mind calm and in check.
> > > >
> > > > Have a great day!
> > > >
> > > > Hoanh
> > > >
> > >
-- 
Tran Dinh Hoanh, Esq., LLB, JD
Washington DC
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