Q: Regarding the Hong Kong situation, you suggested that we can create the light inside us, we don’t fight back because we will then create the fight. I want to light, but then people die everyday. How can I face it? There’s gonna be emotions. There are 2 questions. 1. How can I deal with that and still lighten the light? 2. Should I protect children from all these News and information?
Benno:I don’t think it’s very important that we are not cold people say “Oh This is what we think about I should not worry about what happens in Hong Kong. I just be in my own world.” It needs compassion.Compassion means you do not say poor people, but you can feel them. You can take their pain on your shoulder. Transform it into light. We can visualise that. It is not fantasy, it’s real. If you think it is fantasy and this believe will not help you. In this way if you carry for them, you make the world more light. In a way you take responsibility of them pain for others, unconditional, what you can call love.
So, what can we do innerly further, if we are touched what happens there? You can come to lecture like this, invite teachers to do artistic work and study “Philosophy of Freedom”.It’s not only feeling, it also arises our consciousness. It’s not we can only depend on what we have experienced and we know wisdom is also from what you can read from master’s which can be transformed in our daily life. What you read, you can make it practical, apply it in daily life. It will transform your thinking, and transform your feeling, and change your action. Artistic work is also very practical.Going into the street of Hong Kong and fight, you can do that, but the consequences are yours.
I notice at the moment that I sometime I have this I read I aware what is happening there. I do not close my eyes on it. If I take position in one or the other side, I separate myself for life. If I’m in a position where I can influence this, if I’m a politician, properly I would act. I am a teacher so I influence here, by children and parent. So you also get practical way you can see what is your role in society. If you can contribute the better world, do that there. What you do here will affect Hong Kong, even it’s cooking. What you do in your family will affect the whole world.
I would not talk with children about this. Children will ask about this. But may be they hear, let them speak, but you don’t need to share your opinion about it. Just be interested in how they speak about it. But you don’t need to position yourself to say what you think. Because it will also, at the same time, limit your child. When you say right, you limit your children. And when you say wrong, you also limit. Focus on the world of child. What is really is life. Children in High School will think about it. Then you just can ask them questions. To sharpen their thoughts, don’t fix it. You fix it, you separate. Your child is not in the age of High School. You don’t need to ask these questions. You don’t have to share your opinion. Your school here creates a peaceful environment around them, with respect, with love, without judgement. That’s what you contribute towards life.
Q: Parents need to set guidelines for children to grow, for example, we don’t kill animals and insects. That’s the bottom line and human beings. Is it a kind of judgement? If they kill some animals, what can we do?
Benno: A judgement is good or bad, that’s judgement. So do you eat meat? (Parent nods). To eat meat, animals are killed. So how do you act? If you say killing is not good, then you should not eat meat. I don’t say it’s not good. Do what you say and say what you do. But with children we don’t say good or bad. We just live the truth and values which we carry in us.
The way of being, being as a parent, live what you think. don’t need to explain. If you take care of animals, children will feel that, you don’t need to say it, just do it. Take care of plants, the way you prepare the food, the way you dress yourself. Maybe you think that killing is just blood, you can also kill people by neglecting somebody. Or some body is just angry with you, and you just ignore. Silence can be killing. How do we deal with that? It’s much broader than physical kill. It’s much wider range than only this example. How do we take care the pollution of the Earth? If we use detergent and we clean our dishes, and the frogs die in the river. Maybe you don’t know, but all what we will do has a fact on. So we have to rise our conciseness and we affect on our actions as wide as possible. That has affect on Hong Kong, and other countries, and on the Star and Universe.
