compassion

I once heard a story about a visit to heaven and hell. In both places the visitor saw many people seated at a table on which many delicious foods were laid out. In both places chopsticks over a meter long were tied to their right hands, while their left hands were tied to their chairs.

In hell, however much they stretched out their arms, the chopsticks were too long for them to get food into their mouths. They grew impatient and got their hands and chopsticks tangled with one another's. The delicacies were scattered here and there.

In heaven, on the other hand, people happily used the long chopsticks to pick out someone else's favorite food and feed it to him, and in turn they were being fed by others. They all enjoyed their meal in harmony.

Self-nurturing means, above all, making a commitment to self-compassion, to the creation of a loving and positive attitude toward yourself.

Don't expect others to treat you better than they treat themselves.  If you choose to deal with them (or must), it is best to come from a place of compassion toward their ignorance and lack of love.  Be solid enough to deal with it or step back to work on yourself first.   ~Danielle Marie Crume

"Sometimes the completely open heart and mind of bhodichitta is called the soft spot, a place as vulnerable and tender as an open wound. It is equated, in part, with our ability to love. [...]

Sometimes this broken heart gives birth to anxiety and panic, sometimes to anger, resentment, and blame. But under the hardness of that armor there is the tenderness of genuine sadness. This is our link with all those who have ever loved. This genuine heart of sadness can teach us great compassion. It can humble us when we're arrogant and soften us when we are unkind. It awakens us when we prefer to sleep and pierces through our indifference. This continual ache of the heart is a blessing that when accepted fully can be shared with all."

Passion begins with a burden and a split-second moment, when you understand something like never before. That burden is on those who know. Those who don't know are at peace. Those of us who do know get disturbed and are forced to take action.

The answer is more love, not less.

BE what you wish to see reflected in the world. 
Love is made by being love. Peace is found only in being peace. 
See others as children. See how our collective being impacts them. 
What do you create? Love, Compassion, and Peace? Or Fear, War, and Hate?

Our task must be to free ourselves...by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.

If only we could realize that our purpose is to be caretakers. We are responsible for leading our flock to the place where the grass is green, but it is up to them to eat! We cannot be responsible for how much they digest. We cannot make people mature. Yet many ministers are exhausted from playing God. We have worn ourselves out trying to be spiritual policemen. Sometimes we’ve done it through ignorance; other times, for fear of being ridiculed by our peers for having problems in the sheepfold. It is enough to be responsible for ensuring that our people have the opportunity to graze in the rich grass of God’s nutritious word. Beyond that, we must trust the word to take it’s effect. It will work faster in some people than in others. the spiritual body grows and metabolizes food at different rates much like the natural body does" [ Bishop T.D Jakes]"If only we could realize that our purpose is to be caretakers. We are responsible for leading our flock to the place where the grass is green, but it is up to them to eat! We cannot be responsible for how much they digest. We cannot make people mature. Yet many ministers are exhausted from playing God. We have worn ourselves out trying to be spiritual policemen. Sometimes we’ve done it through ignorance; other times, for fear of being ridiculed by our peers for having problems in the sheepfold. It is enough to be responsible for ensuring that our people have the opportunity to graze in the rich grass of God’s nutritious word. Beyond that, we must trust the word to take it’s effect. It will work faster in some people than in others. the spiritual body grows and metabolizes food at different rates much like the natural body does" [ Bishop T.D Jakes]"If only we could realize that our purpose is to be caretakers. We are responsible for leading our flock to the place where the grass is green, but it is up to them to eat! We cannot be responsible for how much they digest. We cannot make people mature. Yet many ministers are exhausted from playing God. We have worn ourselves out trying to be spiritual policemen. Sometimes we’ve done it through ignorance; other times, for fear of being ridiculed by our peers for having problems in the sheepfold. It is enough to be responsible for ensuring that our people have the opportunity to graze in the rich grass of God’s nutritious word. Beyond that, we must trust the word to take it’s effect. It will work faster in some people than in others. the spiritual body grows and metabolizes food at different rates much like the natural body does.

Be kind to your shadow. ~Rebecca Lawless