How do we feel compassion...?

Probably for me the first time that my heart began to open was when it felt like it had been cracked in half.

It was at a time in my life when I experienced some feelings inside of myself which came as a surprise. These feelings were strong and not so easy to love.

This was the first time that I realised that I was maybe not who I `thought’ I was. I found out that I was capable of feelings which could be judged as being `wrong’ … not the way which one would really want to view oneself.

I found out that maybe I was not like the hero in the film … maybe I was also like the one who ran away .. the `weaker’ character.

So … what does one do when faced with these parts of oneself…?

To turn away from these aspects is to shun oneself … to feel unworthy .. unloved … and in doing so we also turn away from others and others sense our feelings about ourself and mirror this back to us. We effectively cut ourselves off …. from ourselves and from everyone else.

When we hear it said that `All we need is Love’ … this is what it means. We need to love … everything … the things which we perceive as `good’ .. the things which we perceive as `bad’ in order to achieve cohesion and in doing do healing … which leads to balance … and harmony … peace …and back to love.

Love is all there is. This is said because when we love … there is nothing else.

During these days there seems to be much `acting out’ … many strong feelings rising to the surface within many people.

What do we do when this happens…?

It is only when we have seen the darkness inside of ourselves, acknowledged it, understood it and gained compassion for this part of ourselves that we can do the same for others.

Around this time last year I recall feeling so angry … really angry … and as I worked through this anger that I felt … really feeling it while I was lying in the bath .. I found myself feeling such compassion for the many people who are in prisons all over the world for committing acts while feeling anger.

I felt such compassion for them. I was able to feel compassion for these people because I had allowed myself to feel the feelings of raw anger and felt a hint of understanding of how easy it would be to make an error in a moment and commit such an act of rage.

By recognising these feelings can arise within ourselves and feeling compassion for others who have experienced this we can help to heal the collective energy.

We are all capable of so much. However this includes both ends of the spectrum.

It is through experience of duality which we came here to learn about that we have the opportunity to gain compassion for others … because it is by experiencing strong emotions and being honest with ourselves about what we truly feel that we can see that there really is no separation between us and another person.

The paradox .. and there is always the paradox of truth in the land of duality … is that it takes our hearts being  `cracked’ for our hearts to open and heal.

Our hearts are rather like the Spring blossoms outside.

In order to bloom they need to break open … and this feeling can sometimes feel like hurt. Sometimes too when our heart is open we can tend to cry more, feel more … and so the temptation is to close off from this feeling … the perception of `pain.’

Yet more paradox …. there is more hurt in the heart being closed. In this way it feels cut off and cannot connect with another through the way of feeling .. and also connot connect with oneself.

It takes some courage to feel … all of the feelings which our hearts can bring us.

Sometimes the heart tells us stories which we may want to judge as being this or that … however if we can simply listen and love no matter what stories our own hearts tell us … then we can find compassion for ourselves and therefore others.

We are really not so different.

We all want to be loved.

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