I recently had a deep and intense conversation with a friend of mine who happens to be an atheist currently struggling with patience and compassion towards herself and the people around her. I was attempting to articulate to her how to cultivate compassion in your life and why it’s so incredibly worthwhile. I was successful enough to have planted a seed in the open palm of her heart, but I would like to do more.

As few of you know, I am on an intensely-focused spiritual quest right now and this is most likely why this conversation arose, and I stumbled across the following, today. Part of the reason it resonates so deeply with me is that while relayed to us by a practitioner of Buddhism it is in no way less applicable to any other person on the face of the planet, be you an atheist or holy-book follower.

http://www.bodhicitta.net/compassion%20and%20the%20individual.htm

http://www.bodhicitta.net/loving%20kindness%20meditation.htm

The first link beautifully illustrates why genuine-compassion is logical, infinitely beneficial/necessary in life and deliciously simple to achieve with an ounce of determination.

The second link is an excellent 15minute meditative exercise to pursue the development of a steady sense of loving-kindness towards self, friends, family, animals, the earth and even (dunt-dun-dun…) “enemies.”

While always pursuing this state of mind, I have definitely not yet been able to achieve it in a permanent state. Just yesterday I was telling my beautiful companion, Liz, that I wanted to begin meditating on compassion towards my “enemies,” and then I found this article by “accident” today. It sounds like an excellent plan. Would anyone care to join me? =)

I hope all is known to be well in all of your lives and the lives of those around you and around them and around them and….