| 7 Practices to Cultivating Compassion in Your Life |
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| posted Jun 8, 2007 10:20:58 AM | To All |
Recently I thought about the way I live my life and my relationships with other people. I've always tried to be good and fair, and treat others with respect and compassion.
However, I also realized that I would like to develop that part of myself more, and maybe adopting more of a routine or structure to help me each day.
Luckily, I was over at Zen Habits and stumbled across this great guide to that describes 7 steps to making compassion in life a daily practice. It's wonderfully written and I highly recommend reading it.
I really enjoy the way the author emphasizes the importance of empathy, finding what we have in common with others rather than differences, showing kindness, and forgiving those that mistreat us. I think we can all agree that when we find ourselves including these practices in our lives, our mind and spirit feel overwhelmed by happiness and fulfillment.
I'd like to know what you think of the guide. Do you feel inspired to making the 7 practices a part of your daily life? Is compassion already an integral part of your life? Are there times that you've felt you haven't been compassionate enough? Is there a moment in life that you felt you were most compassionate?Edited by: GranolaJoe on Jun 8, 2007 2:14:21 PM |
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"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." -Aldo Leopold
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| 7 Practices to Cultivating Compassion in Your Life |
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| posted Jun 8, 2007 2:06:45 PM | To All |
Thank you for posting this. I needed it right now!
It's constant work to bring my yoga off the mat, as they say, and actively seek to enhance compassion and empathy in daily life. Sometimes it's easy...almost everyone feel sympathy for a hungry child. Sometimes it's work...there are days when my childrens' behavior make it easier to be angry than to be compassionate.
But right now it's darn near impossible. Oh, that Paris Hilton. I know I "should" feel compassion for her as a fellow human being in obvious mental crisis, but sadly I've come down with a big case of schadenfreude (which is German for the malicious delight in another's misfortune).
I guess I should consider it progress that I recognize that she deserves compassion, even if I can't muster any at the moment.Edited by: SuburbanTomboy on Jun 8, 2007 2:28:16 PM |
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| 7 Practices to Cultivating Compassion in Your Life |
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| posted Jun 11, 2007 8:56:24 AM | To All |
On Jun 8, 2007 2:06:45 PM SuburbanTomboy wrote:
Thank you for posting this. I needed it right now!
It's constant work to bring my yoga off the mat, as they say, and actively seek to enhance compassion and empathy in daily life. Sometimes it's easy...almost everyone feel sympathy for a hungry child. Sometimes it's work...there are days when my childrens' behavior make it easier to be angry than to be compassionate.
But right now it's darn near impossible. Oh, that Paris Hilton. I know I "should" feel compassion for her as a fellow human being in obvious mental crisis, but sadly I've come down with a big case of schadenfreude (which is German for the malicious delight in another's misfortune).
I guess I should consider it progress that I recognize that she deserves compassion, even if I can't muster any at the moment.
I think it's great you're making the effort. Making spirituality a daily practice is good for the mind, heart and soul. Like you said, there are situations that test your patience at times, but when you find yourself responding in a positive, forgiving and compassionate way, there is a feeling that weight that is lifted off your chest and a great sense of reward that comes with it.
And the Paris Hilton saga is a perfect example - I was talking to my girlfriend this past weekend about the whole situation and how it's being played out on TV. She's far from my favorite person in the world and I can't stand her. I think she definitely deserves to go to jail for being careless and driving drunk. However, I really don't think she deserves to be treated like garbage publicly or for images and videos of her to get posted around the Web so everyone can point and laugh. It's just not necessary.
I just hope she learns from her mistakes and is humbled in some way, shape or form! |
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"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." -Aldo Leopold
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| 7 Practices to Cultivating Compassion in Your Life |
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| posted Jun 19, 2007 3:41:57 PM | To All |
I liked what the article had to say about compassion being a "shared sense of suffering".
I was walking around town with my boyfriend last night and a homeless man approached us and asked for a few dollars to get some food. My immediate reaction was to guard my purse and hide behind my boyfriend. My boyfriend, on the other hand, took the higher road and took out his wallet and gave the man a few dollars. The man thanked us and told us to have a good night and was on his way.
I'd like to think that I show compassion for others in my life, but it's situations like that where I realize that I still have a lot to learn.
I think it's a life long process of learning about our world and the people in it, and appreciating the things that make us diverse.
Reading this article and also doing some personal reflection about my life recently has made me realize that I want to make some personal changes and cultivate more compassion in my life. |
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