Somebody recently commented to me that they were having a hard time getting all this Dharma stuff as they were following a discussion on Twitter between myself and another person. We were throwing about terminology like dependent origination, anatta, and bodhicitta in the kind of freeform pseudo-intellectual discussion that Twitter tends to lend itself to.

To this person, I would like to say: it’s really not that hard. In fact, don’t get caught up in the terminology — it’s exactly what you’re not supposed to do.

Be compassionate. Be mindful. Pay attention. Be kind. If you can do these seemingly simple things, you’re already ahead of many “knowledgeable” Buddhists and yogis.

Too simplistic? Well, if you like, there are philosophical and conceptual descriptions of how to get to compassion in the Buddhist Dharma, but these teachings are not absolutely necessary. In fact, compassionate non-Buddhist persons such as Mother Teresa and Gandhi, have been described as “enlightened” by prominent Buddhists like the Dalai Lama and Lama Surya Das. When we start regarding our path — be it Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or other — as the only route to enlightenment and compassion, we become sectarian, limited and — ironically — unenlightened.

Identifying common points essential to most Buddhist schools, Joseph Goldstein, in his book One Dharma, has a wonderful expression which goes as follows:

The method is mindfulness, the expression is compassion, the essence is wisdom.

Goldstein (again, ironically) took some criticism for this succinct expression because it fails to include particular teachings in the many Buddhist schools. But these criticisms are missing Goldstein’s point — he isn’t trying to replace any particular school or Dharma teaching; he is only trying to identify a common thread. I would add that this thread is well documented in both Theravadin and Mahayana teaching and the Buddha’s statements appear to be in agreement with it.

I would say that if you can establish mindfulness and compassion in your daily thoughts, words and actions, you have attained wisdom. Like myself, if mindfulness and compassion seem elusive at times, you may need to practice — meditate, read essential texts and sutras, and get support from a community. But the goal is really about realizing interconnection and actualizing compassion. All the abstruse terminology, rituals and philosophical arguments can’t change that.

If a particular teaching or argument goes against this essence, what good is it really?