自在聆听|晨读原著：T37: The Practice of Compassion-Comfortable with Uncertainty

37 The Practice of Compassion WE CULTIVATE compassion to soften our hearts and also to become more honest and forgiving about when and how we shut down. Without justifying or condemning ourselves, we do the courageous work of opening to suffering. This can be the pain that comes when we put up barriers or the pain of opening our heart to our own sorrow or that of another being. We learn as much about doing this from our failures as we do from our successes. In cultivating compassion we draw from the wholeness of our experience—our suffering, our empathy, as well as our cruelty and terror. It has to be this way. Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity. As in all the aspiration practices of the four limitless qualities, we start the compassion practice where we are and then expand our capacity. We start by locating our current ability to be genuinely touched by suffering. We can make a list of those who evoke a feeling of compassion. It might include our grandchild and our brother and our friend who is afraid of dying, as well as beings we see on the news or read about in a book. The point is simply to contact genuine compassion, wherever we may find it. Then we can follow the three-step formula, “May I be free of suffering. May you be free of suffering. May we be free of suffering.” We can also follow the formal seven-step process presented in teaching 35, using the words, “May I be free from suffering and the root of suffering,” or the words of our choice. Like all the bodhichitta practices, the aspiration practice of compassion is best done within a session of sitting meditation.