Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Compassion and humility

Here's a meditation technique that is really more in the realm of a contemplation exercise. I found it on the Meditation Station website:
An ancient Buddhist meditation technique that is applicable to any religion and even to the non-religious, is wonderful at teaching appreciation and compassion for others. It is done thusly: Survival depends on the efforts of other people. Relax your mind, body, and emotions and contemplate on all the ways you are dependent on others. For example, if no one grew grain and no one brought it to market and no one manufactured it into bread, how would we eat? If no one dug up metal from the earth and no one turned it into steel and no one formed it into parts, how would we have a car to drive? And if no one cleared land and no one paved over it, how would we have a road to drive on? And so on and so on. With this meditation, one becomes warm toward others where previously coldness, uncaring, or even looking down upon others existed. The meditative tradition holds that compassion and humility are the two most important components of spiritual growth. This meditation generates both.

This is a good time of year to reflect on our connectedness with others. I commend this meditation to you.

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