12) The feeling of compassion
Universal love gives
rise to the
feeling of compassion for all that lives, for Unity is not a dry
perception, but rather contains the heart at the center of every point
of view. Compassion generates the desire to relieve suffering not only
for oneself, but for all who suffer or are in pain. It is the necessary
outcome of perceiving our life and wellbeing to be inextricably tied to
the wellbeing of all. Compassion is the expression of the ability to
"love our neighbors as ourselves." It is the natural expression of the
heart, unencumbered by the need to protect and defend its own territory
or to separate itself from the interests of all. Compassion is the
emotion which binds people together in families, in groups, in nations,
and in the world. It is the human expression of God's love that allows
for the feeling of embracing life with tenderness. Compassion is the
emotional aspect of unity that allows the heart its fullest expression.
When love overflows from the human
heart, then the
world is perceived in all its beauty, glory, and wonder. Then, there is
no possibility for seeing the world as anything other than sacred, for
its shining quality is evident both to the soul and to the physical
eyes which are seeing what is beloved. This transition to seeing the
world through the eyes of love allows for the expanded perception of an
aura of sanctity around all that is, with a feeling of preciousness for
every drop of life that exists. The experience of sanctity,
reciprocally, gives rise to a greater experience of love, for what is
perceived as pure and holy touches the heart in a way that allows it to
connect with its own purity and goodness. It restores the capacity to
love by removing from the heart, that which has distorted its ability
to interact with life as a priceless and sacred gift, worthy of the
greatest tenderness.
The 'aura of sanctity' which surrounds
life means
that there is no aspect of life, no person, no place, no situation, and
no form of expression that can be held apart from God, either in
meaning or in purpose. There is no such thing as a casual expression
that one can be indifferent to, for all is holy. As a result of the
perception of sanctity, one wounds
oneself
by uttering a harsh word or thinking a harsh thought, for the idea of
wounding the beloved is deeply hurtful to the self, due to the fact
that the beloved is perceived as beautiful and holy and one would
choose to avoid such wounding at all costs. The aura of sanctity that
surrounds each individual soul surrounds the earth as well, and love
for each creature, large and small, for each blade of grass, for each
tree, root, flower, and worm, is the expression of compassion directed
toward Nature and the physical realm of the earth's life. But
compassion also extends to the non-physical realms of life, to the many
beings who exist in other spheres of expression whose lives, too, are
not separate from our own. Those who are not incarnate hold equal
reality to the heart of compassion, and there is love and tenderness
that flows both ways, from above to below and from below to above.
Compassion is the form of love that expresses both tenderness and the
desire to relieve the suffering of all, as well as the wish to create
ease, abundance, and peace for all. It is the benevolent desire of God
to give all that is good to His beloved children. When it flows out of
the human heart toward God and toward other beings of the higher
realms, it flows as a form of love and blessing as well. It flows as
the desire to bless God and those who serve Him because of the depth of
gratitude one feels for the blessings that have been received.
Emotions limiting the capacity to experience or express compassion:
- Separation from the heart which
remains hardened due to
fear of vulnerability
- An unwillingness to be generous with
one's heart, due to
the fear of not being given to in return
- Lack of awakening of the heart to its
own potential. This
is not
fear based, but rather based on limited experience with life so that
the self does not know the full dimensions of what is possible. Such
limitation can occur from longstanding immersion on the surface of
oneself.
- Need to defend one's emotional
territory, to be in control
of
what emotions are expressed due to fear of the power that can be used
against oneself if too much is expressed.
- A drying up of the capacity to love
due to past trauma and
disillusionment. This can be healed by a fuller experience of God's
love which heals the brokenness within the heart and permits a gradual
return to the capacity for love.
Resolution within the experience of sanctity:
To see the world as
beautiful and holy
creates a capacity of the heart to reach out to the world, even where
reaching out was not possible before. To see souls as holy and of
Divine origin, living their lives as the fullest expression of the
flame within that they are capable of expressing, gives poignancy to
all relationship at all levels of expression. The experience of
sanctity or holiness infuses all with love. It removes the veils from
the physical eyes so that no longer can anything be seen or felt with a
heart of indifference. What is sanctified is of highest value, and so
all that diminishes the other in life, all that diminishes the natural
world, all that diminishes the expression of God's loving intention
toward the world, can no longer be part of one's own feeling and
behavior. The experience of compassion, based on the perception of a
sanctified world, allows the human heart to be joined with the heart of
the Divine so that there is only love above and below, within and
without, and so that all is perceived as an expression of that love.