Compassion is the heart’s response to sorrow.
We share in the beauty of life and in the ocean of tears.
The sorrow of life is part of each of our hearts
and part of what connects us with each other.
It brings with it tenderness, mercy,
and an all-embracing kindness that can touch every being.
-Jack Kornfield
True compassion
arises from a healthy sense of self,
from an awareness of who we are
that honors our own capacities and fears,
our own feelings and integrity,
along with those of others.
-Jack Kornfield
The following is one of my favorite mantras. It is calming, brings you to your center, and simply feels good when said aloud or silently.
May I be filled with loving kindess.
May I be well.
May I be peaceful and at ease.
May I be happy.
Begin by saying the phrases directed to yourself. Begin with yourself because without loving yourself, it is almost impossible to love others.
Then, expand the mantra as follows by directing it to others:
May you be filled with loving kindess.
May you be well.
May you be peaceful and at ease.
May you be happy.
May we be filled with loving kindess.
May we be well.
May we be peaceful and at ease.
May we be happy.
We can bring a heart of understanding and compassion
to a world that needs it so much.
-Jack Kornfield
The wisdom of the heart can be found in any circumstance,
on any planet, round or square.
It arises not through knowledge,
or images of perfection,
or by comparison and judgment,
but by seeing with the eyes of wisdom
and the heart of loving attention,
by touching with compassion
all that exists in our world
-Jack Kornfield
Every individual in the world has a unique contribution.
-Jack Kornfield
True compassion arises from a healthy sense of self,
from an awareness of who we are
that honors our own capacities and fears,
our own feelings and integrity,
along with those of others.
-Jack Kornfield
Compassion for ourselves
gives rise to the power to transform
resentment into forgiveness,
hatred into friendliness,
and fear into respect for all beings.
-Jack Kornfield
There is beauty to be found in the changing of the earth’s seasons,
and an inner grace in honouring the cycles of life.
-Jack Kornfield
We need a repeated discipline, a genuine training
in order to let go of our old habits of mind
and to find and sustain a new way of seeing.
–Jack Kornfield
Musings from the Moonroom