To ease loneliness we first need to find friends within ourselves. We can start by connecting with our own positive qualities, such as love and compassion. We can learn to treasure and value these inner qualities and draw our strength from them first and foremost.These qualities are our inner conditions for interdependence and are our... Continue Reading →
The kindness to oneself that I was speaking of is rather different from the self-fixation of selfishness. For example, the Buddha said, “I have shown you the path to liberation but know that its achievement depends on you.” In other words, we have to take responsibility for the achievement of liberation through our own efforts.... Continue Reading →
Interdependence is our reality, whether we accept it or not. In order to live productively within such a reality, it is better to acknowledge and work with interdependence, wholeheartedly and without resistance. This is where love and compassion come in. It is love that leads us to embrace our connectedness to others, and to participate... Continue Reading →
We have within us already the most important resources we need for living interdependence well. We have tremendous mental flexibility that allows us to adopt new positions in relation to changing circumstances. As I will explore in the following chapters, I believe that we have the basic ability to open our hearts to others, to... Continue Reading →
We should use our creativity and imagination and our senses to cultivate compassion and extend it to all sentient beings. We should try and free our compassion so that it can travel beyond our own bodies and seep throughout the environment. If we use our imagination in this way then our compassion can help beings.... Continue Reading →
