Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.
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INTERVIEWS
Patricia Raskin Joslyn Wolfe
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In the July issue of HeartMatters, we took a good hard look at compromise, at what it means and what it doesn't mean.
In this issue, let's think about the importance of compassion in our living, and especially in our loving. Compassion literally means "suffering with," and is defined as "fellow feeling, commonly giving rise to an active desire to alleviate another's suffering." That's the extreme version of the concept, the one that often leads to heroic acts of self-sacrifice.
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We are each made for goodness, love, and compassion.
Our lives are transformed as much as the world is
when we live with these truths.
~ Desmond Tutu
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In our daily lives, however, compassion is simply the "walk-a-mile-in-their-moccasins" thing. No extraordinary measures are required. But we do need to cultivate at least three qualities to develop this quotidian form of compassion: patience, understanding, and a nonjudgmental attitude. These three are interconnected. If we are judgmental, we will close our minds to understanding others, and if we lack understanding, we will lose patience with them.
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When you have learned compassion for yourself, compassion for others is automatic. ~ Henepola Gunaratana
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Like charity, all three of these impulses really need to begin with ourselves. The more we judge (and chastise) ourselves for our failings, the more we are inclined to let the flaws of others color (or rather, discolor) the way we see them. If we don't really understand ourselves, we will find it difficult to understand others. And if we tend to be impatient with ourselves, we are more likely to be impatient with others.
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If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ~ Dalai Lama
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Is it possible to love someone without feeling compassion for them? Is it possible to love yourself without feeling compassion for yourself? I don't think so. What do you think? Let me know! |
I hope you enjoy reading these newsletters as much as I enjoy creating them.
If there's a topic you'd like me to address in a future issue, be sure to let me know! Rodelinde
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