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.