2. Prologue
This book is inspired by the story of “four harmonious friends,” told by Shakyamuni Buddha and recorded in the Vinayavastu (Foundation of Discipline).
I have written this book out of a wish to place the profound wisdom of the original story in the context of a modern 21st century “Western” lifestyle. I suppose that, you, just like me, wish to live a happy life. Unfortunately, just wishing to live a happy life is not enough, because if it were, everybody who had a wish to live a happy life would be having that experience. We know that is not true, because a happy life is not a thing which can be acquired just by wishing it. Since it is not the case there is only one other option – to live a happy life as a product of different causes and conditions. What are those causes and conditions?
My intention with this book is exploring the causes and conditions for achieving inner peace and well-being. To do that effectively, the model for achieving inner peace and happiness has to be based in reality, which means it has to have a solid basis that can withstand thorough critical analysis. It has to be without any logical contradictions, and there should be no counterexamples that could prove the model wrong.
Therefore, with Magnificent: A Tale of Love, Compassion, and Reality, I want to make sure all well-intended readers should get a crystal-clear, practical, and subjective understanding of the most powerful force that permeates every magnificent achievement known to mankind. The sweetness and bliss of inner-peace and lasting happiness exists beyond the complications of everyday life, and it is said that we can taste it while engaging with other people, our thoughts, emotions, and events during the course of our often hectic lifestyle. Hopefully, this understanding and the ways to put it to use in your life will emerge in your mind and heart while reading this book.
I have been told that in the kingdom you are about to enter by reading this book, all the animals, people, and other beings are endowed with the vast, expansive view of love and compassion. I have not been to this place, but have been extremely fortunate to meet wise teachers who know where that kingdom is. This book was written during the period between 2018 and 2019, when I was living close to my beloved teachers in northern India, in the state of Himachal Pradesh, in the town of Dharamsala, or, more exactly, McLeod Ganj.
The whole book has arisen from just one sentence I heard from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, during one of the teachings he gave in his temple in McLeod Ganj: “Love and compassion are supported by reality, while anger, attachment, and other destructive emotions are not.” Those words moved me so much, I started to investigate them, by first analyzing the validity of that statement, asking every teacher, scholar, or a yogi I met for the profound reasoning behind it, contemplating and studying myself, and trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to assimilate my newfound convictions on an emotional level. The book Magnificent: The Tale of Love, Compassion, and Reality is the product of that process.
It is written as a fairytale, an easy to remember story, with the wish to unite many teachings I was fortunate to receive from many wonderful teachers since my childhood. The most important teachings, those on love, compassion, and discriminative wisdom, I have received from my precious teachers, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Geshe Lhakdor, Geshe Lobsang Choegyal Rinpoche, and His translator Ben Shvartz, Yangten Rinpoche, Tsenzhab Serkong Rinpoche, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lama Yeshe, Geshema Kelsang Wangmo, Geshe Gyaltsen, Tseyang Anila, Puntsok Targi, Khadro-La, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, Robina Courtin, Jimi Neal, Tenzin Namjong, and many others, by virtue of their immense generosity and unsurpassed kindness.
Therefore, nothing in this book is mine, unique, original, or never seen, read, or heard before, because I have no specialized knowledge. My only advantage and rare fortune is spending some time in the presence of masters with sharp minds and kind hearts, devoted to the benefit of all beings. This book is my homage to them all. And the best homage to my teachers, in their words, is to practice what they are teaching me – the vast, all-encompassing, expansive view of love, compassion, and wisdom for the benefit of all. Hence, the main motivation for the book you are reading is to benefit you abundantly, so you may cultivate more love, compassion, and discriminative wisdom in your life, because those are said to be the most powerful means for overcoming mental suffering and accomplishing well-being and magnificence for yourself and others.
May anybody who reads, sees, touches, or just talks about this book in a positive or negative manner, receive perfect benefits and everything they need.
Just as only one acorn carries the potential of a whole oak forest, may this book inspire your potential to accomplish all your meaningful aspirations in life. May you achieve every success, cultivate inner peace, a calm mind that is endowed with kind and happy thoughts, and much, much more and beyond.
Igor Mošič, Rijeka, 21.12.2019.
***