COMPASSION BRIDGES THE GAP OF SEPARATION
AND SOOTHES OTHERS TOO, BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT “OTHERS” ULTIMATELY,
  THEY ARE YOU; THEY ARE PART OF YOUR
CONSCIOUSNESS.

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      In the Buddhist canons these two, leading to Enlightenment, have been much stressed upon. Compassion by itself is not awakened—it is blind—but the wisdom it invokes begins to awaken you. In other words, it makes you more conscious and prepares you for Enlightenment. There is no fighting the mind with compassion because we are not trying to practice formulas without preparing our mind as a vessel or fit instrument, to be peaceful enough, relaxed enough to awaken. The mind is like a wild horse that you first have to tame. This is very possible provided you know how to do that. Supposing you are a horse trainer and there are ways you know to train, but you love the horse too. You have to have friendship with the horse to get the best results. You have to pat it, you have to talk to him or her, you have to arrange nice food and good grooming, and so on. When you live with other beings, compassion is needed, not only for them—it certainly soothes them too—but also it leaves you in peace.
      When you are tired, if you have cultivated the virtue of compassion it will give you rest right away. It is tension that prevents us from getting the benefit of relaxation—any kind of tension. In very high, advanced practices or finer, sensitive stages, when your mind is very placid, unperturbed and unaffected, you will be surprised to hear that even music is a tension. In ordinary stages it is the contrary, sometimes helping to give concentration. Now, leave aside that high stage; even otherwise, anything can be a tension. To make the mind focused and one-pointed is to make it free from all tensions, because even one tension, whether it is good or bad, will disturb it. Therefore, because we live in the world with others, compassion is needed. It is another matter when you realize it is all One—if you are fortunate enough one day to realize your True Self. But you have not reached that stage and therefore there are others outside of you and the sense of separation. You have to be compassionate, because ultimately we are One; you are being empathetic with what is a part of you. You are harmonizing within you, integrating within you. By separating from others, you are separating your own Self and dividing in such a way that you create tension. Compassion leads therefore to being One, being the Divine, your Self, your Spirit, the same Consciousness throughout.

      Therefore the Upanishadic saying, “Whatever you perceive is within you.” It is a part of your Consciousness. But since you see others as separate, as different entities, you create separation, which itself becomes the first tension. Having produced that tension, now we say you can at least bridge the gap: be compassionate. So you are gathering back your flock, as if, to the Oneness you originally had. Compassion bridges the gap of separation and soothes others too, because they are not “others” ultimately, they are you; they are part of your Consciousness.  You have lost that realization or wisdom. Who lost it? Mind? Yes, mind lost it by its own creations. Mind is a gap that you have to bridge and at the same time, mind is the instrument that takes you over that bridge. How to do that? Make the mind compassionate. Even though you are still maintaining the illusion of separation or duality, you are bridging that gap harmoniously by compassion. That makes peace within yourself and with others. Then one-pointedness is natural. When focus is applied to anything, it will happen, and therefore wisdom follows. And when wisdom begins to follow, your consciousness begins to awaken, begins to enlighten, and then you hanker after full Enlightenment rather than the piecemeal wisdom of separate things.

THE MIND BELIEVES IT IS FINE TO BE COMPASSIONATE to others, but if you directly tell it there are no others, it is confused. You know how computers get confused and you have to press some buttons to straighten them out? You have to go along with it. When you go along with it, you are being in tune with it and not creating friction. Live like a Buddha, Enlightened. And once you do this, you will see the beauty of floating or merging into this ocean of Consciousness. It is very blissful, without struggling, without trying be one-pointed, without trying to look greater than others. When you begin to do this you will see the agitation and resistance of the mind itself: “That fellow is so wrong and you want me to be compassionate? I can’t do it. I will do it after this problem solves. Let him learn the lesson first, then I’ll be compassionate.” We bring in all kinds of justifications. The mind will say, “How can I be compassionate to such a wrong-doer?” Then to whom will you be compassionate? If others are doing something that you call wrong and bad, that is their karma. By being compassionate, you are releasing yourself. The other person may learn the lesson or not, it does not matter, because he or she will have their own journey to tread. You are not responsible for that. But who says that compassion doesn’t help others either?



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