Practicing more compassion in our lives is the theme of this month’s meditation. I had thought about dedicating it to impermanence, once again, given the recent disappearance of my February posts. I decided, however, to dedicate it to compassion.
Compassion is most commonly defined as a deep awareness of and sympathy for another’s suffering. Why should we practice compassion, or develop it in our lives? Apparently, aside from being good to others with purpose, there is scientific evidence that there are physical benefits to practicing compassion. Data from a study suggests that individuals who engage in compassion meditation may benefit by reductions in inflammatory and behavioral responses to stress that have been linked to depression and a number of medical illnesses.
Of course, the main benefit is that it helps us to be more happy and makes others around more happy. And well, that’s the whole point. I liken it to finding happiness and joy with purpose.
The first step is to try a morning ritual that can be done as soon as you’re awake, while traveling to work (best for me) or in the early part of your day. I learned it in one of my readings of HH Dalai Lama; all you have to do is recite the following:
“Today I am fortunate to have woken up, I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others, I am going to benefit others as much as I can.”
The next thing we should do is to practice empathy. Many times we are centered on ourselves and we lose our sense of empathy; sometimes empathy turns into sympathy, which is really not the point. We should try and keep our focus on the other person, rather than allowing empathy to shift the focus to our own experience and memory of suffering.
Tomorrow, part two.
Gate gate
Pāragate
Pārasaṃgate
Bodhi svāhā
Gone, gone
Gone beyond
Gone completely beyond
Praise to awakening