Oracle of Consciousness
# 19 - Compassion
Compassion
During the Vietnam War in 1969, I had an experience which would alter my perspective and change the way I looked at life forever.
That day I learnt about compassion.
It surfaced in the most unexpected manner, took my breath away and left an indelible impression in my heart.
This was my normal mode of transport
as a Section Commander
At the time we were in a convoy moving supplies, South Vietnamese soldiers and their families to the Cambodian border.
Some of the 'soldiers' were as young as thirteen years of age, decked out in oversized, never before worn boots, and barely taller than their rifles!
It was not unusual for wives and their small families to travel with their soldier husbands to a location just behind the front lines, where they would cook food and support their efforts.
This was unheard of in Australia and other western countries at the time, and I was shocked the first time I witnessed it.
We had stopped temporarily enroute and I had clambered onto the back of one of the trucks, to check with the occupants and its cargo.
As I scanned around the families my gaze fell upon a young mother breast feeding her wee baby, and in that moment, she gave me the broadest, heart-felt smile, and the 'soldier' in me melted.
It was a profound sharing of compassion and connection, that to this day, brings tears to my eyes (like now as I write). Neither of us wanted to be there, but there we were, sharing this beautiful moment.
I felt my heart open as we held our gaze and momentarily, everything else dropped away.
No war, no fear, no hardships, no witnessing the insanity and inhumanity, but a prevailing sense of peace and love.
This I was to learn,
is compassion.
I struggled to comprehend what had just transpired, knowing nothing about Buddhism, never having had such a profound heart-opening or the prevailing stillness that ensued, albeit briefly.
"How is this possible?"
I queried myself.
Here is this young girl and her tiny baby enroute to an unknown destination, her husband barely an adult, risking his life on the battleground ahead, her home destroyed, her survival imminently threatened, and she compassionately connects with a complete stranger from a strange land down-under, with gunfire as a backdrop?
How could this be?
This was to be my first, but not last experience with Buddhism.
What is compassion?
On our hero's or heroines’ journey from our head to our heart, you will come across another heart virtue, this one being compassion.
Compassion is not sympathy, but more about seeing the person, seeing their situation, and observing what's in front of us.
It applies of course to seeing ourselves, having compassion for ourselves first, seeing that we are on a passage, an inner and outer journey with its trials and tribulations, knowing that every human being is on the same route to becoming more conscious.
We don't consider us or them to be broken, damaged, or anything else, but just experiencing life, as it is, with its ups and downs.
When we can see them for what they are and what they are experiencing with understanding and compassion, then that is our best gift to people, to be present, holding our presence, in present time.
We are not attempting to fix them, coach, cajole, or give them unsolicited advice.
But just to see the person and the situation for what it is.
People who are suffering, traumatised, who are in anger, and in pain, need compassion.
Instead of opposition, adversarial-ness, or more anger, they need compassion, as quite honestly, they are struggling.
We need to be compassionate towards ourselves, because compassion is an act of love.
Our world, our Mother Earth can use a lot more compassion
right now too!
Photo by Iuliia Dutchak on Unsplash
Photo by Iuliia Dutchak on Unsplash
Photo by Iuliia Dutchak on Unsplash
Photo by Iuliia Dutchak on Unsplash
Photo by Iuliia Dutchak on Unsplash
Photo by Iuliia Dutchak on Unsplash
If I wish to offer you some coffee, but had an empty cup, there wouldn't be much value in it for you.
You look over the rim and see that just a few dregs remain in the bottom of my cup.
I have nothing to offer.
And this is the same if we're not compassionate towards ourselves, if we're not acting in a self-loving way, then what do we have to give?
We need to fill our hearts with compassion in order to share it with others.
Our role with this heart virtue is to show ourselves and others true compassion, that we're all on a journey, with no judgment.
No 'good' or 'bad', 'right' or 'wrong'.
We're all on this voyage together, towards accessing more of the awareness that lies within, awaiting our inevitable arrival.
And the more you fill your heart with compassion, the more you have to give away.
That's what we came here for, to give and receive love in everything we do, and compassion is an act of love.
I never saw this young woman again or know of her and family's fate.
She will never know what an impact that one smile, that moment of heart-centred connection had on my life.
But I do!
Subsequently in my pursuit of seeking and understanding the meaning of life, I ventured into Buddhism, Hinduism, Christian Mysticism, Vedanta and dabbled in many other religions and philosophies, only to discover that when we distil all those sacred texts, the wisdom of the ages, and quantum theory, the results are the same.
We are all connected as
one human family!
We are infinite consciousness having a human experience and the most tangible element experienced, is love.
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