Lee: Love, Compassion and Relationships

I had a hard time emotionally from my teenage years forward. I was up and down, and quite depressed. As an adult I became focused on my career and that became my life. Socially, I was a very insular person. I always kept a distance with people because I felt quite vulnerable.

Then I stumbled on the Dharma. It was 12 or so years ago. Straight away, all my good qualities that had been hidden for so many years started to emerge. It was such a flowering process. I started getting in touch with my potential to be so much more than who I’d been.

All the virtuous minds that we talk about here like love and compassion, they really are the good part of you. When they start to show up in you, it becomes so much easier to have strong relationships. The idea of training in love became a touchstone with my relationship with my wife. We used to have such a stormy relationship but now there’s a really deep love between us.

At some point, quite some time back I realized it’s only others that matter. I really don’t have any other agenda now. That change seemed like a gradual training, but in reality, I just woke up one day and felt like that.

When you start to feel that way in your heart – like you just want to make other people happy – that changes your life.