(9.163) Oh, surely we must feel compassion for all these poor beings
Who are swept along in these vast rivers of suffering,
For, although they suffer in the extreme,
They do not recognize their suffering state.

(9.164) For example, some ascetics repeatedly wash in freezing water
And burn themselves with fire again and again;
And, although they experience great suffering,
They proudly maintain that they are happy!

(9.165) In the same way, those who live their lives
As if they were not going to be struck by sufferings such as ageing and death,
Will experience horrendous suffering at the hands of the Lord of Death
And then be cast into the unbearable torments of the lower realms.

People need our help, don’t they?  They really do need our help to show them where they are going wrong.  Crazy things people do for their freedom and happiness. They create the cause for more and more suffering and unhappiness.  So we have to show them where they’re going wrong.  They are powerless, helpless.

To do this, we have to first of all see where we are going wrong.  Otherwise, we will their wrong things are correct.  We suffer but maintain that we are happy.  Perhaps we feel ourselves that our life is bearable.  If we did not, I’m sure we would try end it by meditating on emptiness all the time.  We would say we hate this life of suffering.  So perhaps for us our life is a generally happy one, it is a bearable one.  But this will not last.

The fact is that our life at some time will become utterly unbearable.  In this lifetime, things will become unbearable.  We have giant tsunamis of sickness, ageing, and death bearing down on us.  If we do not do anything to get out, in our next life or in lives to come we will experience such immense suffering that we will be overwhelmed by it.  It is enough to just look at how it is for most other people.  They are a preview of what is to come for us if we remain in samsara.  We should not look at just this world, but think of other worlds as well, like the hells.  Even in this world, suffering for the vast majority is unbearable, isn’t it?  Most people in this world I would say are overwhelmed by suffering, mentally and physically.

But unfortunately for all of these beings they do not know how to end their suffering.  They just do not know.  They have no method.  Everything they do seems to just make the problems worse.  In this world alone, fears, dangers, and suffering are all increasing.  People are really helpless.

How can we bring an end to this world of suffering?  How can we bring an end to all worlds of suffering?  By meditating on emptiness.  There is no other way.  We need to deepen our conviction, don’t we?  We can bring an end to the world of suffering only by meditating on emptiness.  If we are not convinced ourselves, how on earth are we going to convince others, so they meditate on emptiness to bring an end to their world of suffering?   We must both deepen our conviction, and follow, follow our convictions.

Our belief must grow into a passionate belief, so we live by it.  Importantly, we need to be seen to live by it, not in a fake way, in an authentic way, because only that will inspire others to do the same.  We are passionate about our belief or beliefs, and of course naturally we live by our beliefs and others see that we do so.  Wanting to realize emptiness needs to be our most passionate wish, becoming the wish that other people too develop that same belief, and live by that belief.  Our most passionate wish is that others strive to realize emptiness.