But compassion could easily be seen as a noun or a feeling, something you either have or don’t have. What if I could see it as a verb, something I can practice, can get better at, something I can live? And similarly, maybe hope could be seen like that as well: not the passive fingers-crossed-that-someone-will-sort-this-out, but as something I can practice and get better at, as well as live in my everyday life.

Within the Mindfulness Association, we use a definition of compassion that has been inspired by the Dalai Lama, where compassion is ‘the sensitivity to suffering in self and other, with a deep wish to alleviate it’. These others are not just my loved ones, but also others who I share this postcode, this country, or even this world with. And maybe it’s not just human others, but other life forms as well…

However, if compassion is to become sensitive to the pain and suffering whether in myself, in others or in the world, I can quickly feel I just want to turn away, to not feel it or let it in. Especially if its big pain that’s not easily relieved, just ‘being with’ can feel utterly overwhelming and even pointless. After all, especially if it’s not within my sphere of influence, what good does it do to be sensitive to it?!

This is where the second part of the definition comes in, the deep wish to alleviate it – some form of coming into action. If I can do something that helps, it gives a sense of agency, of purpose and meaning. It may still be painful, but coming into active care helps to move out of a paralysed freeze or wanting to run away, and into connection and the heart. And it can even be nourishing and affirming too, especially when this action is together with others.

But what if the issue is too large, too painful and I just feel too small and under-resourced to make a difference, where it seems to be outside of my sphere of influence?

Maybe this is where hope, active hope comes in. Whether it’s my own deep and old familiar pain, or whether it’s a friend’s grief after a big and recent bereavement, or whether it’s something as large as the climate crisis or government decisions that impact the health and wellbeing of millions of people – any of these can stay the same as they are now, they can get worse, or they can get better. A powerful question I can ask myself at any time, is “What can I do to make the outcome I hope for, in this case alleviation of suffering, more likely rather than less likely?” And maybe I’m not alone in caring about this… so I can ask myself “What am I part of?” A single drop of water may feel small and insignificant, but together with others it can certainly form a force to be reckoned with.

Sitting with these questions might give surprising answers. Try it out for yourself with this mini practice!

In the Compassion in Action course (25-27 April) we will explore in depth how to support ourselves to come into action where we see pain and struggle, while resourcing ourselves to be able to respond effectively – so we actively contribute to a hopeful future for ourselves and others.

If we surrendered
to earth’s intelligence
we could rise up rooted, like trees. (Rainer Maria Rilke)

When I did a retreat with Joanna Macy (a renowned Buddhist scholar and activist) many years ago, I was shocked to discover that pretty much all my personal suffering is funnelled down from a more universal, collective suffering related to what is not wholesome, healthy and well in our culture and eco-systems. My uncomfortable thoughts, emotional struggles, physical tensions, my sadness, numbness and frustration, are not only mine I realised. What a revelation! I believe reuniting with what Rilke calls ‘Earth’s intelligence’ was what enabled me to see this. It’s an intelligence that sees interconnectedness, that feels part of the Earth.

The infuriating and heartbreaking reality facing us at this time, is that humans have entered an age where our survival and the survival of the earth as we know it, are hanging in the balance, due to our own actions. Rilke’s words above were written in the early 20^th Century. Much further down the line, as a species, we are still drastically spinning off from living with this kind of intelligence.

I would love to believe we can turn this around, but in reality I have no idea if this is possible. So where does this leave us? Well, here’s my answer: I choose to live as if it is possible, because the alternative, hopelessness and giving up, is not an option. This is what Joanna Macy calls ‘active hope’ – living the hope of a better world, because without hope there is no hope.

Fascinatingly there are several prophesies that predicted this world situation. This one below, which is of Buddhist origin, is in the words of Joanna Macy. It was given to her by her teacher Tibetan Buddhist monk Dugu Choegyel Rinpoche of the community of Tashi Jyong in North-West India. While some similar prophecies have been discredited or consigned to cultural appropriation, I’m happy to give this one my attention, because I know and trust its origins.

‘There comes a time when life on earth is in great danger. At that time, great powers have arisen…there are weapons of unfathomable destructive power and technologies that lay waste to the world. It is just at this point that the kingdom of Shambhala emerges…You can’t go there because it is not a place, it emerges in the hearts and minds of the Shambhala warriors.’ (From the book Active Hope by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone)

The Kingdom of Shambhala. This myth sends shivers down my spine. These shivers tell me that I need this myth to live by. I need it to lift my spirits, to kindle vitality in my body, to give me a sense of being part of a movement to ‘rise up rooted, like trees’ and be powerful. We need to be galvanised by a narrative that inspires us to act. The narratives we’re exposed to these days often only serve to dampen, disempower and send us back to sleep. I need this myth to give me hope that transformation on a mass scale is possible, with the force of compassion and love. This is what Joanna Macy calls The Great Turning. Will you be part of it?

PART II

So, with this myth to live by, what will I do? I will nurture my ability to bring love and compassion into action. Here are some things that I didn’t know I needed, which nurture me to be able to engage in compassion in action.

• I need to let myself off. You don’t have to give perfect, unconditional compassion for it to count as compassion. Feel the inner judgement, resentment, reticence, defiance or fear and be compassionate anyway.
• I need to fill my own cup by bolstering joy, appreciation and creativity in my life. It’s not selfish to allow yourself pleasure. Pleasure, joy, beauty, creativity – these are essential to the human spirit too, if we are to thrive. They also give us resilience and the inner resource to face what is difficult.
• I need to feel the pain of the world. On the retreat with Joanna Macy on Holy Isle, when I realised that our historic global inheritance is a shared one, that my suffering is everyone’s suffering, it was a big surprise to me and very liberating, as well as tragic. My suffering is not personal!
• I need community. If I engage in community experiences (celebrations, volunteering, friendship groups etc.), not only do I have more people to be compassionate to, but compassion naturally flows out of me more easily and spontaneously.

So it’s worth focusing on growing your capacity to give to others both for others and for the world, and for yourself.

The Dalai Lama once famously said something along these lines – an unwise selfish person is selfish and a wise selfish person is compassionate. The key point that I believe he was making is that we flourish when we can fulfil our need to contribute.

The need to contribute is fundamental to all human beings, and if frustrated it becomes hard for us to thrive. In the end compassion is not for you or for me, but is shared by all human hearts that need to give and receive in order to fully live. By participating in the endless network of giving and receiving we feel ourselves embedded in the web of life. So, we give because it is essential to the human spirit to do so, for all of us.

Even the NHS now advocates giving as one of its Five Steps to Mental Wellbeing. The NHS website says that acts of giving and kindness can improve your wellbeing by

1. increasing positive feelings and a sense of reward

2. bringing a feeling of purpose and self-worth and

3. helping you connect with other people

When I first encountered this idea many years ago, I began to do something for others whenever I felt low or out of sorts. It worked. And it worked when all else failed. Sometimes I had to force myself, but I came to rely on this strategy. It’s actually very common sense – if I focus on others, I’m breaking the self-referencing loops of thinking that hold me stuck in a slump of my own making. I find a sense of self-value again, my nervous system enters into a pro-social mode and the inner weather system shifts correspondingly.

In our weekend on Compassion in Action (26-28 April at Samye Ling) we will create a temporary community of togetherness which will be the crucible for our discoveries about how we each can engage in giving. We will ground ourselves in gentle, supporting mindfulness practices that provide a refuge for us to over and over return to self-connection, which is so important as a basis for acting in the world. And we will look at fostering our sense of connection to people and planet in a wider sense, nurturing interconnectedness as a way of being and seeing.

Fay

and very important day
for the goldfinches
that have gathered
in a field of thistles

for a musical battle,
to see who can sing
the highest note,
or the lowest,

or the most expressive of mirth,
or the most tender?
Their strong, blunt beaks
drink the air

as they strive
melodiously
not for your sake
and not for mine

and not for the sake of winning
but for sheer delight and gratitude—
believe us, they say,
it is a serious thing

just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,

do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.

It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.

by Mary Oliver

On the 17th January it was the five year anniversary of American poet Mary Oliver’s death. I was not aware of this, but on that day I received a gift of her new collection of poems, Devotions, and have been drinking in her poetry every morning since. Her words are painting my days with a subtle hue – a tinge of awe, a wash of serene sky-like openness and a deeply committed attention to the phenomenal world.

Her pointed, yet tender life lessons live on in the world and will root in your heart if you readily stop to receive them. This poem Invitation, is no exception. Contemporary Irish poet Brother Richard Hendrick, in his poem written last week as a dedication to Mary Oliver, likens her to a saint or sage, though he guesses that she would have laughed at the idea. I certainly feel that reading this poem teaches me the content of a whole spiritual book (or mindfulness course!) quite beautifully, by piercing my heart with the realisation of something essential in a few short lines. What Mary Oliver knows and says here resonates directly with what my heart knows and desperately needs to remember.

There is an urgency in this poem. Mary begs us not to miss out on what is offered up to us. She says that especially here, especially now, especially when much of what we see and hear about is brokenness, we must not forget the feast that is offered up to us already. Simply by virtue of our being alive and being in the magnificent company of Life’s abundance it is offered, in the goldfinches, or the snowdrops coming through as they are here in Herefordshire at the moment.

This could be the moment of revolution. Albeit a quiet and personal one. Here is the question I will take with me from this poem: even in my ‘busy and very important day’ (which every day tends to be!) can I let the wonders of Life change me?

PS. If you would like to learn more about how gratitude and delight can offer resilience in our urgent times check out our Compassion in Action course which is coming up in April and takes place at Samye Ling in the Scottish Borders.

Photo by Simon Berger on Unsplash

effective action comes from love. It is unstoppable, and it is enough.”

Joanna Macy

Is it possible to make a difference in a way that gives inspiration and fulfilment and doesn’t cost us too much? Can we fill rather than drain our batteries, through balanced heart-charged action that matches our capacity?

Engaging in compassion in action will take you on a journey to find out how you can meaningfully make a difference within the life you have, being the person that you are.

It’s all about balance. Balancing our own needs with what we see is needed around us.

Resourcing ourselves is the magic ingredient which enables us to actualise the ‘effective action that comes from love’ that Joanna Macy speaks of in the quote above and this is a key component of our Compassion in Action course. One of the greatest resources available to us is nature, which can give us space, peace and joy. Many people find that spending time in nature provides a reset, improves mood and brings feelings of calm. The potential of this is being talked about a lot at the moment – nature sustains us – not just nutritionally, but also emotionally and spiritually. Being present in nature and feeling our belonging within nature, can teach us important lessons about how to be in the world. In lives where we feel rattled and pressured a lot, time in nature can bring us back to ourselves.

At the same time, we may be painfully aware that us human beings are causing drastic imbalance in the natural world. Our appreciation for nature and our awareness of it being in trouble, against the backdrop of a busy life, makes for an unsettling cocktail of feelings. We may feel powerless, angry, numb or sense a loss of meaning. We may feel disconnected from where or what we are meant to be. Perhaps mindful awareness of the unrealistic expectations we may place upon ourselves might help to burst this painful bubble.

And, as we contemplate how our inner practice of compassion can translate into outer practice, our connection with the Earth matters. If we can feel our gratitude and care for the Earth, we will find a wellspring of energy to pour into compassionate action in the world. As we journey on with this, we can emerge into fresh insight into our place in the world. From here, the action which is natural to us may become clear.

We don’t have to save the world to make a difference! In fact, the only hope we have of saving the world is if we each work within our sphere of influence and with respect for our own wellbeing as we go along. After all we and the world are part of one whole – our flourishing depends on the Earth and the Earth’s flourishing now depends on us.

___________________________________________________________________

Fay Adams and Kristine Mackenzie-Janson will be delivering a new 5-week course on engaged mindfulness: Compassion in Action.

This evening course begins on the 11th May

The course will be held online via Zoom on a Thursday evening from 18:30-20:45 (UK Time).
The dates of the five sessions are: 11th May, 18th May, 25th May, 1st June and 8th June.

YOU CAN READ ABOUT THE COURSE HERE