Compassion frees us from everything else.  Compassion for those who hurt us.  Compassion for those whom we hurt. Compassion for those who judge us.  Compassion for those whom we judge. Compassion for those who reject us.  Compassion for those whom we reject. Compassion frees us from everything else when it is bound to compassion for ourselves.  For compassion is a stream of love, and in the presence of difficulty and in the presence of ease, it allows the full flow of Spirit to fill us.

Compassion leaves space for joy.  For when we are not filled with anxiety, fear, doubt, anger, judgment, or any of the other negative emotions that can be, when there is space and these are removed even a little, then joy can take their place, and greater love can take their place.  For while compassion is a stream of love, it is not the entirety of love.  For compassion exists in the presence of limitation, but love exists in being itself.  Compassion has its roots in love in the presence of limitation.  Love has its roots in the Divine Oneness that is.  Therefore, Love is the Source, and compassion is the ouflow.  Love is one’s being, and compassion is its expression.  Love is the joy, and compassion is the unfoldment.  For the joy of being free to love and being free to be oneself is unparalleled by any outer joy.  It is the joy that lives within each of us. 

Compassion is the deep caring for the suffering of another, however great, however mild.  It is the awareness of the suffering of humanity itself, and of each individual within that humanity who lives with a separation from the truth of their own being.

There is a Native American expression that has been handed down to us for generations and shall continue to be because of its wisdom: “If you want to know another’s suffering, walk a mile in their shoes.”  This is the essence of compassion, it is to know another’s suffering, not to take it on, but to know it is there nevertheless.  Wherever love is not present in another, there must our compassion flow.

Article Section -  Village