Weekly Thought #4:
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Being unsensitive to people that are suffering is not the same as being neutral or retaining your peace of mind, nor is it any form of non-attachment. This unsensitive attitude is created by something in you that got triggered. Something in you is annoyed, attached, and disturbed by that other person which is suffering.
Imagine someone in your household suffers from a physical illness that prevents you from going out that night, would you not feel the slightest bit of annoyance? Would you not be dissapointed and in minor or major form project your own discontentment on the person being ill? Maybe you think thoughts like: "Don't be so weak all the time, get a grip!" and: "Not again, you always get sick when I want to go out."
Imagine someone suffers mentally/emotionally after something happend in his or her life. Maybe some relative died, or something simple happened like a cancellation of an appointment. This other person seems ot be suffering from that. Are you compassionate at such times? Do you love unconditionally and is your mind undisturbed, or does this person's weakness or suffering trigger some latent annoyance in your mind?
Observe these processes within yourself, witness how the mind's structure is triggered by other peoples their mind's content during the upcoming week.
The Practice
Practice showing compassion towards other people that are suffering no matter the reason for their suffering. Understand though, that compassion is not the same as sharing an emotion with another human being. You don't have to experience the same emotion as he does, on the contrary: compassion is a state of mind in its own, a result from understanding the other person's situation and mindset. Compassion is almost like an unique emotion on its own. Feel the 'emotion' of Compassion not the emotion of the one that is suffering, that is his emotion. Show compassion.Observe your mind when you witness someone suffer: What happens within your own mind when you witness people suffering? What latent impressions of the mind are triggered? Observe what arises in your own mind as you see the suffering mind of others. All you need to do is observe what happens to you. Are you annoyed? irritated? hateful? If so: Why? what latent impression lies there in your own mind? Ins hort: Stay alert, stay conscious and observe your the mind's process.
After you let go of all these impressions that arise, focus the mind on showing compassion. Focus the mind on cultivating; on creating compassion within yourself. Try to understand where the other person is coming from. Bring yourself to connect with the other person, imagine you were in his/her shoes with the same mental attitude as she/he has and feel and show compassion.
Feeling compassion is more important than showing compassion. First things first. Purify your own mind, and then it will show to others automatically. Practice this during the upcoming period and you will gain more mastery over your own mental state and happiness.
All the best,
Bentinho Massaro
Return from Showing Compassion to Weekly Thoughts
