What is compassion?

What is compassion? It is not simply a sense of sympathy or caring for the person suffering, not simply a warmth of heart toward the person before you, or a sharp clarity of recognition of their needs and pain, it is also a sustained and practical determination to do whatever is possible and necessary to help alleviate their suffering.

Kindness and Love

Among the messages that ego sends us, the feelings of being hurt and needing to hurt are the greatest illusions.  The only reality that matters is kindness.  To nurture it in all of our living and to reach out in love.  ---Dr. Sojonky

Compassion

Visualize someone to whom you feel very close, particularly someone who is suffering and in pain. As you breathe in, imagine you take in all their suffering and pain with compassion, and as you breathe out, send your warmth, healing, love, joy, and happiness streaming out to them.

Now, gradually widen the circle of your compassion to embrace first other people to whom you also feel very close, then to those about whom you feel indifferent, then to those whom you dislike or have difficulty with, then even to those whom you feel are actively monstrous and cruel. Allow your compassion to become universal, and to enfold in its embrace all sentient beings, and all beings, in fact, without any exception.  -Rigpa 

Seeing good...

Someone asked me the other day if I get sick of working with people with problems.  'Don't you get sick of needy, broken people?'  No never.  Whether you work in a jail with criminals, a hospital with the sick, a food bank or a half way house you have something in common with them.  We are all broken.  We have cracks from the hurt we have caused, the bitter words we have spoken or the anger we harmed others with.  We are all broken.  

The Dalai Lama was once asked to sum up his religion.  He responded quickly, 'my religion is kindness.'  It's a position I always want to work from.  No matter what.   TJS 

Kindness

The Dalai Lama has said:

“There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; my philosophy is kindness.”

Compassion

Visualize someone to whom you feel very close, particularly someone who is suffering and in pain. As you breathe in, imagine you take in all their suffering and pain with compassion, and as you breathe out, send your warmth, healing, love, joy, and happiness streaming out to them.

Now, gradually widen the circle of your compassion to embrace first other people to whom you also feel very close, then to those about whom you feel indifferent, then to those whom you dislike or have difficulty with, then even to those whom you feel are actively monstrous and cruel. Allow your compassion to become universal, and to enfold in its embrace all sentient beings, and all beings, in fact, without any exception. ---Rigpa Quote of the Day