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Compassion or indifference?

Guest post by: Karen Parsons

Article Overview: I speak a lot about the importance of compassion in the Feeling Trapped? Free Yourself Now! Life Improvement Program. Now our compassion is being put to the test with the after affects of the earthquake in Haiti.

Compassion or indifference?

These are the poorest of the poor, the few resources they had are now gone.

How would you feel if someone dropped you off in Haiti with the tattered clothes on your back, no money, no resources, not even food, shelter or water and said okay this is your life. What would you do? How would you survive? Your instincts would become that of an animal, a starving animal with no hope.

I know it hurts when you allow yourself to open up in this way, to become emotionally involved but this is what is needed. We can’t turn our backs on the poor anymore. How can we even think that we are any kind of civilized society when we don’t take care of the least among us?

The Dalai Lama says: “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

Soon the news will die down about Haiti but don’t let it die in your heart. Renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs said there is a way for the poor to pull themselves out of poverty, but they won’t succeed until their basic needs have been met. They need our help to get there.

I admire the boldness and courage that Keith Olbermann demonstrated in his response to Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh’s lack of humanity regarding Haiti. But we must keep in mind that practicing compassion means to feel for both the victim and the perpetrator.

I heard a story that helps illustrate this: A woman had the opportunity to meet with the Dalai Lama while she was visiting India. On her way to the meeting, she witnessed a man viciously beating a dog. When she arrived at the meeting with the Dalai Lama, she was very distraught. She told him of her encounter and asked him for advice on how to feel better. His advice was to generate as much compassion in herself for the man beating the dog as she had for the dog.

The love that is required to mend our broken society can’t be an exclusive love; it must be an unconditional one.

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Article Tags: audio, compassion, haiti earthquake, indifference, life improvement program, online life improvement



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