Self-Compassion
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete”. – Jack Kornfield
When we feel vulnerable, troubled, when there are any kind of difficulties, pain and sorrow, fear or anger, compassion is the natural arising of our aware heart and mind. It is a natural response. When we see another in pain or anguish, we naturally want to help in some way. We feel ourselves in them and there is an empathetic connection. In Buddhism, the response to suffering is called “the trembling or quivering of the heart in the face of suffering”. This is a universal experience. It was compassion for others that caused the Buddha to teach.
“To learn to live with sympathy for others without hesitation” – The Buddha
The first step in developing true compassion is to recognize, acknowledge and be open to the fact that pain and sorrow exist – that suffering is present. Then one must have the courage to feel what they feel and the tenderness to be open and to be vulnerable rather than hide from suffering, avoid it, run away, and bury ourselves in distractions.
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