For Buddhist, the most noble path one can follow is the path of compassion

Sanjoo Thangjam *

( This article of mine is dedicated to Iron Sharmila Chanu and an appeal to the people of Thoubal District to cast your valuable votes for her)

The Buddha, motivated by boundless compassion, strove for 45 years to spread his sublime message to bring happiness to all creatures that are born. Similarly, Iron Sharmila Chanu for 16 years tried to spread her sublime message to repeal the outdated AFSPA to bring happiness to all the people of Manipur by fasting but something inside her told that fasting won’t work and decided to stand for election so she is not mad. It is just a change of strategy.

When we consider the three great questions,
1) Who is Irom Sharmila Chanu?
2) What is she doing here?
3) Is she really required?

The answer to the third question will truthfully be that Sharmaila is not really needed. How many great people who did so much for humanity have died? And did the world stop just because of that? Of course not. We mourned Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, J.F. Kennedy but continued living as before.

However , the great things about these people is that they never worried about whether they were needed or not, that was not important. What was important was that they made themselves needed at least for as long they were alive. And this is exactly what Sharmila is doing?

Being confined to a hospital bed for so long, the woman who has become known as the Iron Lady of Manipur has indeed emerged to a thorny political scene, finding herself isolated and rebuked by the very supporters and fellow activists who once stood by her side.

"While I was fasting, at one point, I began to realise that many of my co-activists were withdrawing their support, and I was left all alone in my fight," she says.

But as Sharmila wanted to make herself needed and make her lives meaningful by fasting for 16 long years to serve the people of Manipur. But… then she began to feel that her fasting have failed to impact the government … so she decided to change the course of her fight and join politics.

However, there was widespread discontent amid Manipuris as Sharmila decided to break her fast. From being sacrosanct as a glowing icon of unbending will, the 44-year-old activist was abruptly transformed into an object of infuriated condemnation.

The most saddening part is that after being released on bail, Sharmila had to struggle to look for a home to stay. She was denied entry twice into a colony in Imphal, where she wanted to live. Even the ISKCON temple denied her the permission to stay.

"People have reacted negatively to my decision to enter politics. But this is my decision," she said.

Others expressed their disappointment by more extreme means. Local media reported that at least two local fighting groups threatened to kill Sharmila if she joined politics and married a "non-local" man.

However, Sharmila has responded that she was not afraid of being killed. "Let them kill me, the way some people accused Mahatma Gandhi of being anti-Hindu and killed him. I shall not seek any security from the government," she says.

What is Sharmila doing – A life lived in the service of humankind is the only worthwhile life that can be lived.

For Buddhist, the most noble path one can follow is the path of Compassion. And this means doing one’s utmost to ease the suffering of the world we live in and doing everything in our power to reduce that suffering in others. And this is exactly what Sharmila have been and is still doing.

There is no one in the world who cannot be of some service to others. The challenge is for us to find what our strengths are and use them without any expectation of reward. It is only by spreading happiness selflessly (like the way what Sharmila is doing) that we can be truly happy ourselves.

Compensation of helping

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself so let us help Sharmila.

Why wait for gratitude?

if we want to find happiness, let us stop thinking about gratitude or ingratitude and give for the inner joy of giving.

Ingratitude is natural – like weeds. Gratitude is like a rose. It has to be fed, wanted and cultivated, loved and protected.