Concern, Compassion, Consideration

None of us can ever fathom the glories and the uncharted regions of the universe. But we can live on earth and love one another. We can let in the beginnings of concern, compassion, consideration, and watch ourselves grow. With the tools and guideposts of Alcoholics Anonymous, we can learn a little of this precious gift -- our gateway to human spirituality.

Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional, growing spiritually is up to you.

Compassion

Compassionate action starts with seeing yourself when you start to make yourself right and when you start to make yourself wrong.

At that point you could just contemplate the fact that there is a larger alternative to either of those, a more tender, shaky kind of place where you could live.

Pema Chodron

Minute Meditation -- True Compassion

True compassion is not just an emotional response, but a firm commitment founded on reason.

Therefore, a truly compassionate attitude toward others does not change, even if they behave negatively.

Through universal altruism, you develop a feeling of responsibility for others: the wish to help them actively overcome their problems.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama

 

~~ @@ ~~

A Gardern Of Blooming Love

If we make our goal to live

a life of compassion and unconditional love,

then the world will indeed become

a garden where all kinds of flowers can bloom and grow.

Dr. Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross

#@#@#@#

Compassionate Action

Compassionate action starts with seeing yourself
when you start to make yourself right and
when you start to make yourself wrong.

At that point you could just contemplate the fact
that there is a larger alternative to either of those,
a more tender, shaky kind of place where you could live.

Pema Chodron

A Heart Of Grace

The greatness of a community is most accurately measured

by the compassionate actions of its members,

a heart of grace, and a soul generated by love.

-- Coretta Scott King

God Of My Understanding

Inside of every person - man, woman, and child - is the knowledge that there is a Supreme Being.
Many of us have been taught that the Creator is a punishing God.
We have been taught about feelings of guilt and shame when we do things wrong.
We have been taught that God gets angry and disappointed with us.
The Elders teach us that the Creator is a loving and forgiving God.
He loves us during our good days and He loves us during our bad days.
He doesn't know how to do anything but love.
If I really want to find out about the true God, I only need to ask in prayer.
There is one thing that God cannot do and that is refuse help to one of His children who asks.

My Creator, I ask You to be a part of my life today.

Whisper to me Your wisdom.

Let me feel Your presence.

If I am doubtful and afraid, show me,

in terms I can understand, You are real.

What We See -- Judging Others

Though it is human to evaluate people we encounter based on first impressions, the conclusions we come to are seldom unaffected by our own fears and our own preconceptions.
Additionally, our judgments are frequently incomplete.
For example, wealth can seem like proof that an individual is spoiled, and poverty can be seen as a signifier of laziness-neither of which may be true.
At the heart of the tendency to categorize and criticize, we often find insecurity.
Overcoming our need to set ourselves apart from what we fear is a matter of understanding the root of judgment and then reaffirming our commitment to tolerance.

When we catch ourselves thinking or behaving judgmentally, we should ask ourselves where these judgments come from.
Traits we hope we do not possess can instigate our criticism when we see them in others because passing judgment distances us from those traits.
Once we regain our center, we can reinforce our open-mindedness by putting our feelings into words.
To acknowledge to ourselves that we have judged, and that we have identified the root of our judgments, is the first step to a path of compassion.
Recognizing that we limit our awareness by assessing others critically can make moving past our initial impressions much easier.
Judgments seldom leave room for alternate possibilities.

Mother Teresa said, "If you judge people, you don't have time to love them."
If we are quick to pass judgment on others, we forget that they, like us, are human beings.
As we seldom know what roads people have traveled before a shared encounter or why they have come into our lives, we should always give those we meet the gift of an open heart.
Doing so allows us to replace fear-based criticism with appreciation because we can then focus wholeheartedly on the spark of good that burns in all human souls.

-- DailyOM