Compassion. It is a seriously powerful emotion. Compassion is the key to inner peace. It might not do anything for the object of your compassion, but it does do a good job of washing their stupid off of you. And yeah – I realize that doesn’t sound all that compassionate. But it actually is.
I recently had a run in with a seriously angry person. Hates his family. Glad his parents are dead. Would have killed them himself if they hadn’t have died already. I told him I felt sorry for him. And I do. I really do. That guy is miserable. I hate thinking anyone is going through life with that much anger.
At the moment I realized how sorry I felt for the guy, my frustration with my interaction with him melted away. It was like I was suddenly impervious to all that he did and said. I know my compassion did nothing for him except to make him angrier because he told me so. But it did worlds of good for me.
I just can’t help thinking. What would this guy’s life be like if instead of being angry, he had decided to feel compassion for his parents? Yes, they apparently raised him in a religion that he didn’t share. Yes, the circumcised him – which was their original sin in his eyes. But I seriously doubt they were intentionally trying to make his life a living hell. If he had decided his parents were worthy of compassion, he wouldn’t be so angry. And if he weren’t so angry, he wouldn’t be working so hard to make other people’s lives miserable too. And the world would be a slightly better place as a result.
