Generosity is like an international language: everybody understands what it is, regardless of your educational or financial background. More and more ways of altruism are emerging every year. Within a few years Ukraine has shown an increased interest in charity organisations as well. For the majority of people helping others has become a part of everyday life. We talked with Lama Tenzin Sangpo about generosity in terms of buddhism, its relation to charity and which forms of voluntary help are the most important to accumulate merits for buddhists. What is charity and how does it work? Charity as an expression of generosity has become a part of life for a lot of people nowadays. It’s clear that you don’t need a lot of money, power nor free time if you want to change the world. Good, small actions help to increase the quality of life for others. The strange thing here is that it’s “contagious”. If some of your friends are doing charity work, you’ll likely get involved as well. Being generous together is easy. Other people’s generosity encourages us to do the same. So maybe generosity is a natural need? Lama Tenzin Sangpo: “People feel that problems happen due to some negative emotions, their consequences and the clinging to the “self”. Many of us have a deep understanding: if I only help myself and not those who are around me, I won’t become happier. People know and feel that their own happiness is dependant on the state of others around them. That’s why they’re trying to direct their care and actions outwards to improve the atmosphere. That’s why charity is so popular”. Generosity can undo our wrong perception of the world. Giving voluntarily - is a kind gesture, that works against one of the ten unkind actions known in …

Sometimes it seems our kindness can be as infinite as the universe. We can forgive any mistakes, even when they have been done on purpose. But sooner or later these short periods of generosity end, and irritation drives us over the edge. When things make us angry, we definitely don't like ourselves. And even when such periods are gone, we still tend to react to every little adverse situation: people being ignorant, traffic jams, long queues, uncomfortable clothes, close friends, even our own children and parents can irritate us. Anything can set us off. Irritation and anger usually come together. Is it OK to experience this? Should we fight it? And if we don’t, does that make us bad? We talked about it with Buddhist Lamas Tenzin Sangpo, Tsevang Gyatso Negi and Buddhist professor Khenpo Karma Gyurme. Khenpo Karma Gyurme: “Don’t blame your own faults on others…” When people say bad things about us, we usually react with anger, irritation or at least disappointment. For example, I was told I’m fat, without trying to think logically, I immediately start getting angry. But let’s face the truth: if I’m overweight, why am I angry if one is pointing that out? It’s the truth. It seems there’s no reason to get angry, but we tend to immediately react without evaluating the situation reasonably. Anger and irritation are defence mechanisms. But what are you defending yourself from? If we start to analyse this question, we come to the understanding that we defend our own views, or the illusions of what we think we are. When you experience negative emotions, you become exposed, unprotected. But on the other hand, calmness will make you invulnerable, as you have this solid understanding that nothing can bother or irritate you. Whatever happens - you're not afraid. You're …

Nowadays, almost everything we do is with the purpose of providing the maximum amount of comfort for ourselves. This comfort also includes our psychological well-being. But since we all have to face our negative emotions, this isn’t easy. So what should we do? Don’t pay them any attention? Accept them? Suppress or even release them? Buddhism - is a philosophy, that develops positive thinking. We spoke with Khenpo Karma Gyurme, a buddhist professor and Shedra’s (college) senior teacher of Buddhist monastery “Ka Ning Shedrub Ling” about these issues. What are “negative emotions”? These are the emotions, that make us suffer and do stupid things such as: anger, passion, judgement, selfishness etc. They disturb our mind and lead to improper actions. On the other hand, positive emotions, even though they don’t cause misconducts, they still can be harmful. How come? For example, you are enjoying delicious food and it gives you pleasure. But at that moment you are happy not only because of a tasty meal, but also because you are healthy, surrounded by nice people with nothing that bothers you. You feel good in the moment, everything is beautiful, you are happy. You will associate this deep, strong experience of happiness with this particular meal and will try to look for it again. You may repeat this experience - go to the same restaurant, order the same dish and anticipate: happiness, where are you? But you won’t be able to recreate the same conditions and will most likely be disappointed. It’s as easy to be happy, as it is to be irritated. It is common for the mind to experience these emotions. When they happen, it’s difficult to keep control over oneself and keep a calm mind. That’s why positive and negative feelings are quite similar. But when the mind …

Depression doesn't care about your age, your education or how much money you have in your bank account. Fences, castles, monasteries or any other kind of barrier can’t stop it. Depression can reach anybody. Doctors claim that nowadays every one-in-ten people suffers from intense depression, while about one-in-five experiences different depression states at least once in their lifetime. Khenpo Karma Gyurme , Shedra’s (college) professor and senior teacher of Buddhist monastery Ka Nying Shedrab Ling, spoke with us about depression during his visit to Kyiv. Why do more and more people suffer from depression? Depression is a disease, where mind is the cause. Even though it seems that its origin lies in the events from the outside world, in fact, it is a reflection of the state of our own mind, our reaction to things. I think, that the mind, just like the body, has a certain breaking point. How much can we handle? Some people can take a lot, some - not so much. Every person has their own stress limit. The world is rapidly changing and everything is happening fast. Our mind can’t catch up and so gets tired. When your body is exhausted and burned out, you get sick. When your mind is worn down, you have a depression. Nowadays, humans are under huge pressures from the outer world, caused by their way of living. I think, this is the reason why more and more people are suffering from depression. Actually, there are many explanations for this disease. One of the main causes is - desire. When there are too many desires, you don’t really know what you want and what you need. You start to mix them up and mistaking the one for the other. For example, you need a pair of shoes - this is …

In the Odessa Botanical Garden, it is planned to install a TIBETAN SITE, which consists of Tibetan Pagoda and Pavilion.