“The more evolved you become, the more compassionate you become, the more you show loving kindness to everything, to the mineral kingdom, to the vegetable kingdom, to the animal kingdom, and to the human kingdom. You show total compassion, loving kindness. You become an embodiment of love simply because everything is you.”
~ Robert Adams
There’s one thing I’ve noticed recently along the spiritual path: there seems to be no end to our capacity for compassion.
How do I know that? I keep finding the secret ways I still judge myself and others when patterns get played out or emotions take over. And as I look deeply into each one, every time I see the invitation for softening, acceptance, and as Byron Katie says, loving what is.
I can always find the capacity for compassion.
As I look deeply, I sometimes discover a subtle rejection of experiences that arise because they don’t meet my expectation of what I think should be happening.
I shouldn’t feel confused or bored. My friend shouldn’t be so upset because she should know by now that her difficult family members will never change. Another friend should stop recycling a distressing story that causes him to suffer.
Even though it’s painful—and surprising—to become aware of these resistances, I love discovering them. Each discovery is a little awakening, coming out of the fog of robotic, unconscious, divisive thinking and into the light of infinite possibility.
And in this light, over and over, I find limitless compassion.
As much as the fear-driven mind tries to avoid and fragment, it can always be met with the willingness to be intimate with what is.
And that’s how everything serves—and I mean everything. Every moment offers a unique arising of the human experience. We can react with resistance and story-telling—or open with curiosity.
We can swim in the familiar pain of fear and lack—or meet it all with the deepest acceptance and celebration.
In these times, it’s easy to get lost in the sorrows of the world. There is plenty of suffering of all kinds, and our hearts break in response to it.
But you can always bring light into your corner of the totality—right here, right now. And that changes everything.
Take a courageous moment to reflect:
- What feelings have you been avoiding—or rationalizing to yourself?
- How are your stories of judgment and blame dividing you from others?
- What “should’s” are blocking your peace and happiness?
If you’re like me, you’ll find many answers to these questions. What would it take to soften in these places of resistance?
Love is always here as the essential nature of reality. Although we may feel stuck and separate, there’s another way: the ongoing miraculous discovery of limitless compassion…
