Do
you have compassion? Compassion is when we open our hearts to
empathize and extend love to others. It may be easy to have
compassion on those who you see as suffering from life events or
forces outside of themselves, but can you offer compassion for those
who are victims of their own poor choices. Can you have compassion
for the homeless crack addict as well as the baby born with health
issues? Can you come to a place of compassion for those who are
stuck in unawareness, suffering in a living hell of their own doing?
If you can have compassion on all who suffer, regardless of the cause
of suffering, then this is unconditional compassion.
Unconditional
compassion is non judgmental. It comes from a fully open heart. The
more open your heart is, the more love you will be able to give and
the more love you will be able to feel. A heart with conditional
compassion is limited in its ability to fully feel love. The heart
becomes blocked. The blockages in a heart are a result of the ego
mind pushing for separation from others and spirit. The ego has to
justify its existence through thoughts of self righteousness and a
“I'm better than you” attitude. These type of trains of thought
lead to justification of conditional compassion, which in turn limits
our expression of love.
Practice
feeling compassion towards those you normally judge as “losers”.
The reality is they are suffering because they have lost themselves.
Thoughts of judgment only serve to irritate us and reinforce feelings
of being better than others. Praying for those who suffer will not
only help them, it will enhance your own feelings of serenity and
begin to clear away any blockages in your heart. An open heart is
able to freely express love to others and feel the immense joy of
receiving love.
Lesson:
Practicing unconditional compassion opens your heart, which enables you to fully express and feel love.
Exercise:
Become
aware of any instances where you are reluctant to feel compassion for
someone who is suffering, regardless of the cause of the suffering.
When you find yourself resisting real compassion, say a prayer for
them. Pray that their suffering will soon be over. Pray for your
heart to open wider and to have compassion on all beings.
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