Understanding our own hurt allows us to see and understand the suffering of others. Looking without judgment, we can understand, and compassion is born. Transformation is possible.

The essence of this practice is that when we encounter pain in our life we breathe into our heart with the recognition that others also feel this. It’s a way of acknowledging when we are closing down and of training to open up. When we encounter any pleasure or tenderness in our life, we cherish that and rejoice. Then we make the wish that others c

We’re commanded to “not be haughty in mind but to associate with the lowly.” There is to be no sense of superiority in our actions or attitude as we relate to those who have hurt us or those who are different from us.