Compassion, A Key To Peace

Compassion is one of the spiritual practices embraced by all enlightened teachers and practices. Compassion is one of the great tools we can use, which leads to forgiveness and understanding. I share a talk and deep meditation on compassion and the importance of finding it to be at peace.

Transcript

Aloha,

I'm Reverend Cindy Palos and this is the Elements of Peace today talking about compassion.

Compassion is such an important element.

We think of Buddhism,

Of course,

And the Buddha expressing compassion.

We think of Kuan Yin who understood how everyone needed compassion.

Compassion is one of the spiritual practices embraced by all enlightened teachers and practices.

And it's also one of the keys that we need to find peace.

There's a great quote from the Dalai Lama,

His Holiness says,

Love and compassion are necessities not luxuries.

Without them humanity cannot survive.

This is such an important thing to remember.

What does it take to survive on this planet?

This planet with so many people,

So much suffering,

So many inequities.

And there was a great lady who understood those inequities because she walked out among them fearlessly.

You probably know who I'm talking about,

Mother Teresa.

Mother Teresa said if we have no peace it's because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

So this is something we have to look within and see.

And I think there is a definite correlation between empathy and peace.

And I believe as we are more and more learning how to be sensitive and to be aware and to be sensitive to others,

We are developing more empathy.

And empathy allows us to feel some of what others are feeling.

But with compassion we are not only feeling what others are feeling,

But we are allowing ourselves to give back the grace of peace,

The grace of giving love,

The grace of giving of ourselves to others.

To give the truth of our oneness to that other person by seeing within them the beauty of their soul.

Albert Einstein said,

And so as human being,

As part of the whole called by us,

The universe limited in time and space,

We experience others thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest,

A kind of optical delusion.

This delusion is a kind of present for us,

Restricting us to our desires and affection for a few persons near us.

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

So this love and this compassion,

This freeing of ourselves from the illusion to be able to see the truth of our oneness will indeed give us that great key of finding peace.

In Buddhism,

Love and compassion are a couple of the key components of the Four Noble Truths that state the mind that Buddha was revealing himself not just in lofty ideals.

This is a way of living that we need to survive.

We need to survive for the peace and the happiness in humanity.

And in Buddhism,

You understand with that compassion,

You bring happiness to all sentient beings.

That's one of the great precepts in Buddhism,

To find that compassion for all sentient beings.

And you relieve and pray to relieve all sentient beings of suffering.

Now this is not just a belief,

It's a way of living.

It's a way of daily setting our intent.

It's the way the teachers were trying to teach us to be,

That we need to be to survive on this planet.

Jesus Christ said that living compassion and forgiveness when he understood,

Father forgive them for they know not what they do.

And I think that can help us in understanding having compassion because there's so many who do not and have not yet recognized the power of the soul within and have not evolved to the point where they may recognize what they're really doing.

And yet this is what they're looking for.

And you can,

As a compassionate person,

See and give that which is needed to help another's life.

I wrote this poem,

Ode to Walk This Life of Compassion,

Giving us that vision to see how the path of being human is not an easy thing.

We each have our burdens to carry.

We all have our different ways.

And the longer we live,

You'll find it doesn't get easier along the way.

It takes all of our commitment to do the right thing.

It takes a clear conscience and courage to fulfill what we need to find peace.

And so we learn to have compassion for what we must go through.

And then we can understand what others go through too.

Now we have this gift that has been given to us by the great teachers of talking about compassion and setting our intent for compassion.

And it takes a daily commitment to really stick to that promise,

That prayer,

That energy that allows us to be vulnerable,

That allows us to be human,

That allows us to feel,

That allows us to understand,

That allows us to live to our fullest and find compassion for others' journey as well.

Let's take a few moments to go into a state of meditation.

Breathing in that light of compassion,

Allowing that breath of compassion for ourselves.

Just allow yourself to feel and be aware of how you need that love of compassion,

How you need to be free of any judgment,

How you need to understand how you feel right now.

Allow yourself with each breath to feel that breath of peace found in compassion.

Breathing that light of compassion in,

Allowing that light to fill your mind.

What does compassion mean to you?

Settle into that energy of compassion.

It is there within your heart of hearts,

So go to your heart of hearts.

Allow yourself to feel that love of compassion for yourself right now.

Feel all the things you've gone through in life that have hurt you and how you somehow survived all of that and how you were able to come through those lessons that were so painful to be here now.

And allow yourself to,

With that heart of compassion,

Send love out to another person you know who's struggling.

Send your love out in a rays of light,

In a rays of love,

And allow that compassion to be touching the other person's heart and soul.

Allow it to be something that embraces them on the highest level and let its light break through any of the darkness and clouds that might be something going through the other person's life.

Feel that compassion for the other person's journey.

And now come back to your own heart of compassion and feel as you share compassion.

The same thing Kuan Yin felt,

That need of so many who were suffering,

That needed to have her compassion.

And feel that compassion that she has for the entire world.

Allow that energy of that great compassion of Kuan Yin to encircle the world with light and with love,

Great love,

The love the Buddha had,

That compassion for all sentient beings.

Send that out as your energy right now and let it come deep back into your heart,

Deeply into your heart and soul so you can sense how that compassion connects you with the world.

Breathe it in,

Allow it to be free within you,

Allow that love to take root in your heart and to grow so that you may indeed be a person who can serve with love and compassion in this life.

And now come back and sense that energy,

Embrace that energy,

Embody that energy in your life.

I thank you so much for taking the time to feel that compassion,

To share that compassion and to be that compassion.

I'll close with another poem I wrote,

God be with you always and know the heart of understanding and the compassion it takes to be alive,

To understand that here is where God's love abides in the heart of compassion.

This isn't a religion or a Sunday kind of thing,

It's being here 24-7 and all that that means.

It's being human and the truth that brings us back to being here to reveal all the things we need to share that love,

That lifeline that you were given at birth that connects you with your true worth.

The human heart's so hard to know and so we are given the eyes of the soul and with that vision we can see the light that's alive and guide you as you go to the heart of compassion and understanding.

Let that compassion be with you every day and God bless you on your journey.

Thank you so much for listening.

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