Today people are excited to talk about the FIFA World Cup Final. I talked about soccer, or football earlier, because in the monastery we were so interested in that sport. It was interesting seeing countries around the world playing together. Young kids learn about other countries, and about differences. When watching those games, we notice all the emotions.
When they play, I notice the arrogance when a good team plays a smaller team. There’s arrogance within the players too. When they have the ball, they think, “Should I pass to the person near me or not?” Arrogantly thinking, “I could pass it, but that person will miss it. I will go myself instead.” They are looking down on their teammates. Because of that, they don’t pass. They do it alone, and the other team takes the ball away and they lose their chance. That is arrogance.
It’s the same in regular life. Some people don’t trust their colleagues, don’t trust others. They try to do everything themselves and end up unable to do anything. Sometimes, when a strong team plays a weak team, they overreact. A small victory becomes a big victory, shouting and roaring like lions killing a mouse.
They feel proud. They managed a little well and think, “I’m the best, maybe I’m the best.” They feel overconfident, and then, even while winning, they lose the game because of overconfidence.
I also see fear in the game: fear of scoring, which comes from lack of self-confidence. Sometimes there’s fear of being scored on by the other team, so you’re blocking all the time. But you can’t keep blocking forever.
Sometimes there’s fear of not being able to keep up your reputation. Because your country’s team has a good reputation, now you are afraid of losing it. Even if the game ends in a draw, you feel uncomfortable. There’s a lot of emotion there.
But while there are all these emotions, the part I like is that, even though they’re playing for their own country, or against another country, there’s still great acceptance.
Everyone follows the rules. Even the audience. Though they’re crying and unhappy with some decisions, they still accept them. I think that’s good behavior; respecting the law of the game, respecting the people playing and watching. In interviews afterward, players often praise their opponents, “We did a great job, but they did too.” When I hear that, I think, “Yes, that’s quality.”
When watching those games, what is real victory? I realize the true victory is not just in winning the cup. Take Norway. They were in the final quarter and lost but still seemed very happy. It looked like they didn’t feel bad about losing. Surely some might have, but it looked like they were celebrating just being there. I felt the victory in that.
Then another small country, Cape Verde, a small African country. In a way they were total winners of the whole tournament. They were celebrating. They had achieved victory. They played very well, and even though defeated by Argentina, they were still winning. They were so happy with their performance – even in defeat. Happy for just competing with one of the best teams. That’s victory.
True victory comes from true happiness. When you are happy with your performance and rejoice in your achievement, you understand it. You feel satisfied. That’s true victory.
When a country wins the World Cup, it feels like a huge victory. Then afterwards, they’re not happy and they think they need to win again. Otherwise, it feels like losing. So now there’s an expectation: We won before; we must win again. Expectation reduces our happiness and makes our achievements feel less worthwhile. Emotions are funny that way.
So, in your life, if you focus on the one match you lost, and your whole life circles around that loss, you suffer over it. Your whole life feels like a loss. Actually, there is nothing there for you to feel so bad. Instead, if you focus on each game you win, you can celebrate.
It’s the same in life. Sometimes you have a good time with someone, a lot of happiness, and then there’s one fight or one bad situation, and you only remember that, thinking your whole time together was bad and sad. That’s the same here.
The soccer World Cup surely isn’t a textbook to study, it’s not a Dharma book. But if you look at these things, you can see a lot that can be applied to our lives: how to understand our emotions and our happiness in the world; the happiness in victory and the sadness in loss.
And what brings all these countries together to play? It’s not just money. Surely, that is a factor, but what really brings them together is acceptance and respect – respect for the rules.
If a team loses, they accept it and come back next time with a better player, a better strategy, a better coach. And there’s inclusiveness. No country says, “I don’t want to play with that country.” Respect, acceptance, and inclusiveness creates harmony, and because of that they’re able to play together.
That’s true in any group you’re part of. If you want to keep your group together, if you want to keep harmony in your group, the first thing is to respect the rules. There may be things you dislike or disagreements, but that doesn’t mean you have to destroy everything. Without rules, we can’t function.
Through that, we respect and accept. If you don’t like someone, that doesn’t mean that person isn’t allowed to be part of the group. Accept that they are a person, a human being with their own rights. Even if in your mind, you don’t like that person, they’re still part of our group, our circle. That is inclusiveness. Through that, you create harmony, and your whole group will do well wherever they are.
How Watching the World Cup Can Teach Us Dharma (Demo Rinpoche – Ancient Wisdom. Modern Times. #285. July 19, 2026)