Reaction to Misery

Day in and day out, we see so much misery around us; death, greed, hatred, and so on. Most of these people suffer without realizing the source of their unhappiness and to top it off, they don't even bother to find out. Plagued by blind ambition, lust, anger, etc. they enter into a vicious cycle of hurting others and as a result, continue suffering themselves. But then, you see the good in this society who have transformed not just societies, but entire cultures. If we examine the great spiritual leaders of our times, we will see that they very carefully guide people out of their vicious cycles of suffering. These leaders not only calm the egos of the rich and educated, but they guide the poor and the uneducated to the same shores of selflessness. Quite often, just acknowledging the presence of these people in our society can us happy. More importantly, though, there is a subtle lesson to be observed ... these leaders didn't give the people money or food, but rather a way of life; to really help people, you don't just improve the surroundings of people, but rather equip them to handle any kind of environment. When we meditate and learn to reduce our reactions, we are giving ourselves this ability to be equanimous in all environments.