Re: Compassion - Tom

[Guest guest]

Dear Tom:

This " compassion " is tricky business indeed!

<snip>

For me the above statement starts out with multiple layers of lies.

We have " When my friend is suffering " . This thought is made up of

the following assumptions:

1. There is a another that is separate from me that I call " my

friend " .

2. That separate one is capable of suffering.

3. It is that separate one that is suffering and not me.

4. That there is anything capable of creating suffering other than

my thoughts. etc., etc.

If I buy into any of those concepts, I am confused and will only

become further confused if I have any thought of what " might be

helpful for this suffering friend. " Now, on the other hand, if I

hear myself/friend asking for help, I will give them what I have to

give in that moment. I think that that is what you are saying you do.

I guess the bottom line is, " Would I feel compassion for God? " " Does

God need me to feel compassion? " If " God is All and God is Good " ,

then this " suffering friend " is in fact God. If I can remember that

fact in that moment, I will have received and given a Miracle.

Otherwise, I will only propetuate the illusion of separation.

*****Hi Steve ...

Your incisive analysis provokes a response, one that I've been

struggling with, on and off, for years. As you know, I ascribe to

the notion that " God is All and Everything is God. " In a word,

unicity. The sense of separation is just that, a *sense* not

an " is. "

Where does that leave one (if the above is taken to be so)?

That all the apparent suffering, torture, disease, upset and misery

in the world is an expression of God. (This brings to mind the old

Woody joke: " Life is full of suffering and misery and

heartbreak. And it's over too soon! " ) Whether or not such things

as suffering, upset, and misery have a " purpose " I wouldn't care to

speculate. There are many theories about that. But clearly

suffering, upset and misery do seem to exist.

Furthermore, whatever happens, from the mightiest earthquake, to the

simplest thought arising in the mind of a child, is a movement of

God, a phenomenal expression of God.

Let's go a bit further, ok? There are some who appear to be caught

in lies, confusion. If " God is All, " then they are just where they

are meant to be, since it isn't 'their' doing; they're

being 'done.' And, as well, they can be no other way. Until they

change. And that won't be their doing either(or yours or mine). It

will be God's doing. (And yes, as you noted, they too ARE God.)

Now it gets tricky because, maybe, part of God's doing is to make

one say something which provokes the healing, initiates the ending

of confusion in another. Or, perhaps, the opposite may be God-

driven, the other person being made to feel even more confused,

upset, agitated. We see this happen from time to time. The result

of one's sharing can't be known apriori. And really, one will

either say her truth or not, but it won't be because *she* chose to,

as she has no will of her own, for she too is an expression of God.

As is the entire illusion that there is a 'she' or me or you that is

not God. That too is God's doing.

If this understanding filters deeply enough, one eventually gives up

in disgust or resignation, realizing that one can do nothing other

than what one does, and that such doing is exactly " right " for that

one, at that moment. It may hurt, it may sting, or it may bring

joy. There is no choice, however, so one might as well sit back and

enjoy the ride (if you can). Such a posture is called acceptance of

what is.

~andy