Compassion: a Blessing in Pain

I believe that at every level of society-familial, tribal, national and international- the key to a happier and more successful world is the growth of compassion.
-Dalai Lama

I am learning, the hard way maybe :), that there is indeed a blessing in pain. 

I love what Pema Chodron in Good Medicine  says about this.  I can't put it in her exact words but something to the effect that when we become open hearted and kind to our own pain,  we can begin to experience true compassion for others. In order to truly reach out and connect to others who are suffering we have to be intimately familiar with our own. It is this open allowing and accepting of pain in our own experience that allows us to be open to others. It is only from that place of openness can we begin to make a difference.

I have had pain in my life and because of my prejudiced reactions to it, leading to attack thoughts in the many forms they come in, I have suffered.  I used to  hear myself constantly saying , "Why? Why me? How could they? This is so unfair. Poor me."....

And now I find myself saying, "Thank You"...albeit...I am still at the point of doing so  quietly, with a question mark and an unsure shrug of the shoulders...but I am getting there.  And where I am right here, right now in this understanding is perfect.

I want to be able to look out at the suffering that is evident all around me and be open to it.  I do not want to continually struggle against it, resist it, run from it or close up to it. I want to breathe it into my life. 

Why on earth would I want that?  Isn't that dark and morbid?

I want to breathe in  the suffering of the world so  I can breathe out the refreshing, soothing, healing light of compassion.   It is my heartfelt wish that all sentient beings will eventually recognize the peace that is already in them. How cool that would be. That I believe will lead to a happier and more successful world.

And it begins with recognizing our own pain, seeing it not as something to  attack...to close to or push away...but something to be kindly and compassionately accepting of.

Hmmm!

All is well in my world

ACIM-W-21-30

Pema Chodron ( Sept 11, 2016) Good Medicine Part 1: How to Turn Pain into Compassion with Tonglen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gzMOY1AI_M