Compassion in Regular Life

Focus for your personal reflections this month

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to 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 in its beauty.”  -- Albert Einstein

In thinking about the centrality of "suffering" and the "end of suffering" in the Four Noble Truths there is an understanding that that is also the entry point or gateway to understanding and developing compassion in our lives. What might it look like to use COMPASSION as the focus of your personal reflections over the next few weeks?

Here are some questions to spark your interest, an online compassion exercise and the link to a private online Facebook discussion group I created for sharing your insights, questions and challenges.

1.  Questions for your own reflection:

  • What is compassion?  What does compassion mean to you?
  • What does it take to have compassion in your daily life?
  • What acts of compassion or kindness did you witness in the last day?  How were you involved?

2.  Shifting Toward Compassion: An online exercise from the NY Center for Nonviolent Communication.

  • Use this LINK.  I think this is a powerful tool by Thom Bond that can be used in many situations.  The purpose is to experience a "shift" in what you are thinking about and a shift in how you feel along a "connection continuum." Even though it is online, you'll want to find some uninterrupted time (20-30 minutes) and a couple sheets of paper and something to write with.  

3. Compassion in Regular Life Facebook Discussion Group.

  • I've also created a private Facebook discussion group we can all use to share our reflections and discuss questions that might arise.  You can join the discussion group HERE.