Hari Bol....
20. Listen to Heart – Compassion for the Eternal Soul is Self-Realization…..
We all as human beings have Compassion. We all are compassionate person. As human beings we have deep awareness of suffering of another and we wish you relieve him or her. We have a feeling of distress and pity for misfortune of another, accompanied by a desire to alleviate the suffering. It is an emotion that is a sense of shared suffering, most often combined with a desire to or reduce the suffering of another; to show special kindness to those who suffer. Compassion essentially arises through empathy, and is often characterized through actions, wherein a person acting with compassion will seek to aid those they feel compassionate for.
I would like to say that it is human quality of understanding the suffering of others and has a desire or wish or want to do something about it. It is a feeling of kindness and forgiveness. Today is a day when people are celebrating it as ‘Mothers’ Day’. I find everyone is celebrating it, in his or her own way. The word ‘Ma’ cannot be defined. She is the biggest strength and weakness of every child. I will not be wrong to say that every mother is compassionate about her children. She is full of compassion. She cares for us more than she cares for herself. She understands the suffering of her children even if she is not told and does everything possible for relieve. Mother is the best example for kindness and forgiveness. We all are children of our Lord. Can say that the Lord is the real Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Friend… So let us all thank the Lord for his kindness and forgiveness.
Compassion is a quality which is positive in nature. If you are concerned about others for their support it gives positive energy. The vibration which will surround will be positive in nature. It will help us to listen to our heart. The soul would be pure. This is not easy. For this one has to be saintly in nature. Dalai Lama said, “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.” But there are other benefits as well, and these are emotional and spiritual. The main benefit is that it helps you to be happy, and brings others around you to be happy. If we agree that it is a common aim of each of us to strive to be happy, then compassion is one of the main tools for achieving that happiness. It is therefore of utmost importance that we cultivate compassion in our lives.
It will bring immediate and long-term happiness to our lives. It is something that will bring true and lasting happiness. Should we develop compassion in life? Well, there are scientific studies that suggest that there are physical benefits to practicing compassion — people who practice it produce 100 percent more DHEA, which is a hormone that counteracts the aging process, and 23 percent less cortisol — the “stress hormone.” Meditate in the morning or in the day time or whenever one feels good but practice regularly. In this way, it becomes a part of our life. The key to developing compassion in our life is to make it a daily practice. Dalai Lama also said, “This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.”
If a person who is saint and spiritual in nature has love, peace, self-control and compassion then we can understand that he or she is actually connected properly to his or her roots of tradition with values and cultures.
I was going through an article by Leo Babauta which I would like to share which will help us to cultivate Compassion in our life.
· Morning Ritual: Greet each morning with a ritual. Try this one, suggest by the Dalai Lama: “Today I am fortunate to have woken up, I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others, I am going to benefit others as much as I can.” Then, when you’ve done this, try one of the practices below.
· Empathy Practice: The first step in cultivating compassion is to develop empathy for all human beings. Many of us believe that we have empathy, and on some level nearly all of us do. But many times we are centered on ourselves and we let our sense of empathy get rusty. Try this practice: Imagine that a loved one is suffering. Something terrible has happened to him or her. Now try to imagine the pain they are going through. Imagine the suffering in as much detail as possible. After doing this practice for a couple of weeks, you should try moving on to imagining the suffering of others you know, not just those who are close to you.
· Commonalities Practice: Try to recognize the commonalities rather than of recognizing the differences between yourself and others.we are all human beings. We need food, and shelter, and love. We crave attention, and recognition, and affection, and above all, happiness. Reflect on these commonalities you have with every other human being, and ignore the differences. One of exercises comes from a great article from Ode Magazine — it’s a five-step exercise to try when you meet friends and strangers. Do it discreetly and try to do all the steps with the same person. With your attention geared to the other person, tell yourself:
1. Step 1: “Just like me, this person is seeking happiness in his/her life.”
2. Step 2: “Just like me, this person is trying to avoid suffering in his/her life.”
3. Step 3: “Just like me, this person has known sadness, loneliness and despair.”
4. Step 4: “Just like me, this person is seeking to fill his/her needs.”
5. Step 5: “Just like me, this person is learning about life.”
We all will agree that if we have more of commonalities the frequency would be matched by mind, intellect and heart. We have heard the saying ‘birds of same feather folks together’.
· Relief of Suffering Practice: Once you can empathize with another person, and understand his humanity and suffering, the next step is to want that person to be free from suffering. This is the heart of compassion — actually the definition of it. Try this exercise: Imagine the suffering of a human being you’ve met recently. Now imagine that you are the one going through that suffering. Reflect on how much you would like that suffer to end. Reflect on how happy you would be if another human being desired your suffering to end, and acted upon it. Open your heart to that human being and if you feel even a little that you’d want their suffering to end, reflect on that feeling. That’s the feeling that you want to develop. With constant practice, that feeling can be grown and nurtured.
· Act of Kindness Practice: Now imagine again the suffering of someone you know or met recently. Imagine again that you are that person, and are going through that suffering. Now imagine that another human being would like your suffering to end — perhaps your mother or another loved one. What would you like for that person to do to end your suffering? Now reverse roles: you are the person who desires for the other person’s suffering to end. Imagine that you do something to help ease the suffering, or end it completely. Once you get good at this stage, practice doing something small each day to help end the suffering of others, even in a tiny way. Even a smile, or a kind word, or doing an errand or chore, or just talking about a problem with another person. Practice doing something kind to help ease the suffering of others. When you are good at this, find a way to make it a daily practice, and eventually a throughout-the-day practice.
· Those Who Mistreat Us Practice: The final stage in these compassion practices is to not only want to ease the suffering of those we love and meet, but even those who mistreat us. When we encounter someone who mistreats us, instead of acting in anger, withdraw. Later, when you are calm and more detached, reflect on that person who mistreated you. Try to imagine the background of that person. Try to imagine what that person was taught as a child. Try to imagine the day or week that person was going through, and what kind of bad things had happened to that person. Try to imagine the mood and state of mind that person was in — the suffering that person must have been going through to mistreat you that way. And understand that their action was not about you, but about what they were going through. Now think some more about the suffering of that poor person, and see if you can imagine trying to stop the suffering of that person. And then reflect that if you mistreated someone, and they acted with kindness and compassion toward you, whether that would make you less likely to mistreat that person the next time, and more likely to be kind to that person. Once you have mastered this practice of reflection, try acting with compassion and understanding the next time a person treats you. Do it in little doses, until you are good at it. Practice makes perfect.
· Evening Routine: I highly recommend that you take a few minutes before you go to bed to reflect upon your day. Think about the people you met and talked to, and how you treated each other. Think about your goal that you stated this morning, to act with compassion towards others. How well did you do? What could you do better? What did you learn from your experiences today? And if you have time, try one of the above practices and exercises.
These compassionate practices can be done anywhere, any time; at work, at home, on the road, while traveling, while at a store, while at the home of a friend or family member. By sandwiching your day with a morning and evening ritual, you can frame your day properly, in an attitude of trying to practice compassion and develop it within yourself. And with practice, you can begin to do it throughout the day, and throughout your lifetime.
This, above all, with bring happiness to your life and to those around you. As per Dalai Lama, “My message is the practice of compassion, love and kindness. These things are very useful in our daily life, and also for the whole of human society these practices can be very important.” Someone also said, “Give 1000 chances to your enemies to become your Friend but never give a single one to your Friend to become your Enemy”. Arjuna a man of Saintly in nature also wanted to give chances to his brothers (Kauravas) who were standing in the battlefield as his opponents to compromise and settle so that the battle can be avoided.
Arjuna refuges to fight the battle with Kuravas. He seeks refuge in Lord Krishna, imploring him to remove the intense grief that burns him within. Arjuna is in no condition to receive any advice. He is in mentally distraught condition. Arjuna considers Krishna not only as friend but also as a wise man and as guru. His mental state is not in condition for taking any help from Krishna. Krishna waits for Arjuna till his mental state is ready to take help and advice from Krishna as he is in deep compassion state with depression. Arjuna is in state of dejection. He is overwhelmed with emotions and forgot the role of a Kashtriya. Arjuna expresses his unwillingness to fight with his near and dear ones and he becomes silent. Thus he let his emotion burst out. Material compassion, lamentation and tears are all signs of ignorance of the real self. Compassion for the eternal soul is self-realization. Arjuna addresses Krishna as ‘Madusudana’. Lord Krishna killed the demon Madhu, and now Arjuna wanted Krishna to kill the demon of misunderstanding that had overtaken him in the discharge of his duty. No one knows where compassion should be applied. Compassion for the dress of a drowning man is senseless. One who does not know this and laments for the outward dress is called a Sudra, or one who laments unnecessarily. Arjuna was a Khashtiya, and this conduct was not expected from him. Lord Krishna, however, can dissipate the lamentation of the ignorant man and for this purpose the Bhagavad-Gita was sung by Him. It helps us in self-realization by an analytical study of the material body and the spirit soul, as explained by the supreme authority, Lord Krishna. This realization is possible when one works without attachment to fruitive results and is situated in the fixed conception of the real self.
All Glories to Lord Krishna & All His Loving Devotees….. Hari Bol……
Courtesy : Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ) , Srimad Bhagavad-Gita ( by A. Parthasarathy & www.gitadaily.com ) Chapter 2 : Text 1 , www.google.com, Wikipedia
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