Spiritual Practices

Compassion

Spiritual Practice: “There but for the grace of God go I" (John Bradford). Mentally repeat these words to awaken compassion for someone, especially someone you have difficulty feeling compassion for—not with a holier-than-thou attitude, but with a compassionate understanding that allows for loving thoughts.

Spiritual Practice: Put yourself in someone else's shoes. See the pain, physical or emotional, behind his or her actions and attitudes. Allow yourself to feel the sympathy that leads to compassion.

Spiritual Practice: If you find yourself mentally criticizing another person, and in effect shutting off your compassion, look at your own flaws. Maybe you have the same flaw as that person. Be compassionate toward yourself and your own flaws and then transfer that compassionate feeling toward the other person. If you find it easier to feel compassion toward the other person, then feel that compassion and transfer the feeling to yourself.

Spiritual Practice: Imagine the person you want to feel compassion toward is a little child. To some degree or another, there's a wounded child in all of us that sometimes manifests in seemingly irrational behaviors or ways of thinking, expressing the underlying pain and grief. Feel compassion for the wounded child in yourself and others—a child who did his or her best in coping with a confusing world.

Spiritual Practice: Imagine the love that the Heavenly Father and Divine Mother have for each of their children. They see the perfect soul hidden by a flawed ego. Encompassed in that love is compassion for all. Affirm: “Just as God feels compassion toward me, I feel compassion toward others. I look for the spark of God in everyone."