Generally speaking, humans ought to be warm hearted and caring
because, from a Buddhist point of view, everyone has Buddha nature, which means that everybody has the innate potential to become a Buddha if one makes the right effort with the guidance of qualified masters. However, unfortunately, humans are also easily influenced by negative habit patterns and by their circumstances and the environment in which they live. As far as possible, we should be kind hearted and loving towards others, since caring for others is simply looking after ourselves. That’s because the practice of compassion helps us to realize our highest potential. No matter how difficult it might be in the present, if you act with compassion, you will always win in the long run. Thus, whenever we meet with an opportunity to help others, we should simply extend our support without any doubts. But whenever the occasion arises when we may be tempted to inflict pain on someone, or if there appears to be some temporal gain to be achieved at the expense of others, we should completely and wholeheartedly reject such impulses. We are living in a world where people have many views, so we cannot always agree with the opinions of others, but if we have to dismiss another’s beliefs, then do so tactfully and sensitively so as not to hurt anyone’s feelings. And in many cases it is best to simply keep our thoughts to ourselves. We all have memories of difficult times in our lives, so the best approach to this is to simply let it remain in our memory, because holding onto it or bringing it up again will only perpetuate the cycle of pain. Before we condemn others as wrong or engage in harsh speech, we should take a deep breath and ask ourselves, “Am I perfect?” If not, then simply offer a nice smile and walk away. That way we will still be able to keep the continuity of friendship and respect for one another.