"We cultivate compassion to soften our hearts and also to become more honest and forgiving about when and how we shut down. Without justifying or condemning ourselves, we do the courageous work of opening to suffering. This can be the pain that comes when we put up barriers or the pain of opening our heart to our own sorrow or that of another being. We learn as much about doing this from our failures as we do from our successes. In cultivating compassion we draw from the wholeness of our experience - our suffering, our empathy, as well as our cruelty and terror. It has to be this way. Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity."
~~~ Pema Chodron
Comfortable with Uncertainty:108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion
Page 73
~~~ Pema Chodron
Comfortable with Uncertainty:108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion
Page 73
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