The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Bringing Virtue into Life”
A lot of people play the power game of trying to gain power and domination over other people simply because they feel if they can control others it will make them happy. They will be powerful. They will be shielded from hurt because they are dominant. Others are weaker than them and they don’t care whether they hurt the people under them or not. They do whatever they want to do in order to make themselves happy. That’s what people do. What they don’t realize is that in every conceivable sense they are making themselves more and more unhappy. That kind of power over others will never produce happiness. In some future time that very person who is such a power monger will be the most powerless of sentient beings. Think about the helpless little creatures that are kept in cages in pet shops to be sold to who knows. Think about the helpless little creatures that are kept in laboratories to be tested on for who knows what purpose. That kind of helplessness. So we are talking about curable suffering and unhappiness and we bring it on ourselves through cause and effect relationships. This is one of the teachings that the Buddha has given us that is very, very logical, and we can see small examples of it within our lives. If we engage in non-virtuous behavior, it will produce unhappiness.
Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo. All rights reserved
