Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Compassion

 

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RIGHT INTENTION Cultivating Compassion Whatever you intend, whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will become the basis upon which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop meditation on compassion, for when you develop meditation on compassion, any cruelty will be abandoned. (MN 62) Compassion fails when it produces sorrow. (Vm 9.94)

Reflection The power of compassion is that it can rise above tragedy, and its value is that it can lift us beyond feeling sorrow. Encountering the many forms of suffering in the world rather than looking away will inevitably bring mental pain in the form of sorrow. But compassion is an emotional triumph insofar as it brings out our best capacity for caring about the well-being of others. Compassion represents victory over sadness. Daily Practice There is plenty of opportunity these days to exercise our capacity for compassion: so many people dying, so many lives disrupted, so much tragedy on an epic scale. Open yourself to all this but with the strength of heart to feel compassion rather than sorrow. Compassion is a “trembling of the heart in the presence of suffering,” but the heart is trembling with loving care for the suffering one rather than with fear or dread. Tomorrow: Refraining from Malicious Speech One week from today: Cultivating Appreciative Joy Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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