Willie Nelson

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“Whether you call it the cowboy way or the way of the Tao, open your heart and you will be as strong as the strongest among us, as wise as the oldest sage.”
Willie Nelson

Unconditional compassion flows from a kind open heart. It is an emotion growing from a keen awareness of others in need. This creates a compelling desire to alleviate that need or suffering without requiring any personal compensation. Unselfish concern for the needs or interests of others requires commitment and practice to revive human and spiritual values of love, compassion, respect, forbearance, appreciation, wisdom, kindness and protection for the welfare of all people and nature. Sincere and honest questioning crucial to achieve the goal of a more humane world helps challenge accepted beliefs.

Competitiveness in our society is a norm signifying a limited supply. Applying this idea to compassionate action results in ego driven motivations because there is attachment to a reward. Just because someone does good deeds does not mean they are compassionate. It all depends on what the motivations are that make the deeds compassionate, kind and loving.

True compassion results from a deep knowing of the ultimate oneness of humanity. The belief of totally separate human beings makes it impossible to have compassion. Because everything in the universe has a connection to everything else, separateness can only be an illusion. From this belief, another person’s suffering is the same as our suffering. A compassionate person lives a life of pure joy by dedicating their life to the relief of human suffering. A compassionate person understands others to the extent they understand themselves. No more, no less.

Self-Examination
How can we have deep appreciation and understanding of another person’s feelings and experience if we don’t have an understanding of our own? We each have a responsibility to understand ourselves before we can expect the world to move toward peace. So often we look out and expect others to conform to our viewpoints thinking if the other person changes the world will improve. It’s so easy to recognize others faults and fail to see exactly the same trait in us. To cultivate this basic human value of compassion within ourselves we begin by increasing our level of mindfulness through a process of inner reflection.

Self-Correction
We need to confront our own anxiety, fear and suffering by allowing the non-judgmental witness to observe the thoughts and feelings appearing moment to moment in our mind. By practicing compassion towards ourselves as we observe our issues we gain new perceptions and inner knowledge that open our hearts fostering a positive attitude. Unconditional compassion arises easily when our ego-guarding thoughts settle down.

A detached demeanor is critical for self-observation and self-correction. We need to love ourselves first before we can love others. This internal contemplation delivers a calm and clear mind that will resolve problems successfully. Being upset about the injustices in the world is not a compassionate act. It is a sign of weakness. Compassion is easing suffering not creating it in your world while expecting others to be joyful.

Recognizing the universality of suffering will bring us closer to all human beings even our enemies. This is true strength. Loving everyone includes our enemies. Compassionate listening provides a bridge by going beyond the words to the heart. Patience allows listening to someone in pain without trying to change them. We can realize this person is dealing with pain and confusion. If we honor this aspect of their humanity we won’t internalize any negativity and be a brilliant example of a loving presence.

Love and compassion are foundations for world peace and peace starts in each person’s heart.

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Tags: Peace

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