LIVIN G WITH S PIRIT
HOW TO find compassion by Steve Ray
ACCORDING TO AN old Hindu legend… …there was once a time when all
human beings were gods, but they so abused their divinity that Brahma, the chief god, decided to take it away from them and hide it where it could never be found. Where to hide their divinity was the
question. So Brahma called a council of the gods to help him decide. “Let’s bury it deep in the earth”, said
the gods. But Brahma answered, “No, that will not do because humans will dig into the earth and find it.” Then the gods said, “Let’s sink it in the deepest ocean”, but Brahma said, “No, not there, for they will learn to dive into the ocean and will find it.” Then the gods said, “Let’s take it to the top of the highest mountain and hide it there”, but once again Brahma replied, “No, that will not do either, because they will eventually climb every mountain and once again take up their divinity.”
28 AUGUST 2015
Then the gods gave up and said, “We do not know where to hide it, because it seems that there is no place on earth or in the sea that human beings will not eventually reach.” Brahma thought for a long time and
then said, “Here is what we will do. We will hide their divinity deep in the centre of their own being, for humans will never think to look for it there.” All the gods agreed that this was the
perfect hiding place, and the deed was done. And since that time humans have been going up and down the earth, digging, diving, climbing, and exploring — searching for something already within themselves. Compassion…. it’s not something we
can do; it’s something we already have within us, but at the moment, right now in fact, we are blocking it. We are blocking it because of the domination of our mind. This is the key to unlocking
compassion, ending the domination of
our mind… but how do we do that? More on that in a moment. First, we need to realise where compassion comes from. It’s in our hearts. We all know it.. deep down, but we’ve forgotten it. Some people might say they don’t have it, but we all have a heart. It’s our connection to the unconditional and unlimited love from the Source of Love, and the key to compassion is to open our heart. Listen to what Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh writes in his latest book, “How to Love”, published just this year: “When our hearts are small, our
understanding and compassion are limited, and we suffer. We can’t accept or tolerate others and their shortcomings, and we demand that they change. But when our hearts expand, these same things don’t make us suffer anymore. We have a lot of understanding and compassion and can embrace others. We accept others as they are, and then they have a chance to
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