In these times of crisis in Venezuela, there is a book that keeps coming to my mind, one that contains useful information on how to deal with the frustration that comes from watching the news. The book is called "The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World" by the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama, as most of you probably know, was only twenty-four when he had to exile to India after unsuccessfully trying to negotiate with the Chinese government that had invaded his native Tibet. Almost sixty years later he still has hope to see his country free. In this particular book he talks about how in times of conflict we tend to believe all of our problems are caused by our enemy, therefore eliminating our enemy will eliminate all of our problems. However, this mindset not only fosters violence but also sets our goals on an elusive prize. Happiness is rarely the consequence of seeing our enemies (or their ideals, or governments) die. If we ask survivors of the Holocaust I assume none of them recovered their happiness just because Nazism was overcome. They most likely got relief, but not necessarily happiness. The same with victims of 9/11, or sexual abuse, or even a divorce. According to the Tibetan monk, reaching compassion, however, is the only golden ticket to contentment.. A concept that has been supported although not always practiced by most religions in the world. For a confessed idealist like me, this Dalai Lama’s theory stirs lots of thoughts and feelings in my already overwhelmed brain and heart. But in these troubled times in my beloved Venezuela where people has been on the streets for two weeks trying to overrule a government that they see as the only cause of all their troubles, while the government has been violently fighting the protesters because according to them they (and all their imaginary conspirators) are the source of all their difficulties, I ask myself: is the recovery of happiness even possible in Venezuela? In case the Dalai Lama is right, then the cessation of Nicolas Maduro’s corrupt, nepotistic and dictatorial rule, perfectly inherited from Hugo Chavez, will not necessarily bring my fellow Venezuelans the longed happiness. But then, do all the deaths from protesters in the last two weeks have been in vain? The fact that a government only rules for fifty percent (or probably less) of its population should be enough reason to question its fairness; the fact that there is not equality but an excess of repression, censorship and tons of financially disastrous law will bury its name in the books of dictatorial regimes in the world. Only that justifies the constant battle protesters have been fighting on the streets. But a fight that is blinded with the desire to only eliminate the enemy will not bear lasting joy or real change. The fight is against the characters that have a name and shamelessly abuse their public jobs so that they pay for their crimes as established by law; against the ideals of a leader, now deceased, who separated a country; against the people who are afraid to hear other people’s voices; against those governments that have robbed Venezuelans of their resources in exchange of their support in international organizations. The fight cannot be against the generalized, anonymous Venezuelan who simply thinks differently to us. If that is the goal, then we will never, ever be happy, and for an idealist like me, no battle is worthy if it does not bring us closer to our ultimate goal: complete and lasting happiness, the kind that stays with us when the world is going mad, the earth is acting strange, and our neighbor throws rocks at us. I really hope and I pray constantly for an end to the violence in Venezuela. Not only the one perpetrated by the robbers, or the criminals in the public institutions or the one carrying scary guns, but the one we commit everyday to that “enemy” that thinks differently than us, that have a completely opposite world view than ours, and who can only partially see a side of the truth. Complete and honest happiness will only be achieved when we feel compassion not only for those that have lost a loved one (to death or prison) in this battle but for the ones that are on the other side as well. And that can be achieved regardless of who is sitting at the president’s office. He is just a replaceable character, one of the many we are likely to see in our lifetime. The happiness of a country will never be the happiness of only fifty percent of the population. But the compassion of one can become the compassion of and for millions. Let’s keep fighting for equality with an open heart and let’s remember that the seed of our own happiness resides in us but will only sprout when we reach to our neighbor’s yard, especially that one we dot not get along with. I might be too much of an idealist, but I rather believe that in this battle to recover the Venezuela I left behind years ago, I see millions of compatriots who laugh together and reunite after being separated by an instigating government. The Dalai Lama said: “We must recognize that the suffering of one person or one nation is the suffering of humanity.” Let’s focus on recovering humanity in Venezuela. After all, this government will eventually leave through insistent petition or votes, but the individuals will stay and we will always have to coexist with each other. Even if we are far away like me, like the Dalai Lama or like many others who had to exile, we always remain connected through an umbilical cord to the same Mother Land, and we all have the right to be called her daughters and sons, and we might differ as siblings do, but in the end we all sit down at the same table. Let’s make it a peaceful dinner; let’s reclaim our right to be part of this joyous and great sisterhood; let’s recover peace through compassion. Venezuela is waiting.
