Kindness / Compassion

Classroom Talk: 4/13/2005 - Evil transforms suffering into unconscious acts of blame, bitterness, and self-pity -- harmful forces that punish everyone; while the Good transforms these same dark states into conscious suffering -- creating humility that heals whomever it touches.

Classroom Talk: 11/7/2003 - The next time someone is cruel to you, remember this truth: what just clawed out at you is that person's pain -- and before it started tearing into you, it had already torn that poor person apart. This special kind of remembrance helps cancel the cycle of conflict, because we will not lash out at another whom we can see is already suffering. True compassion takes root in the ground of such higher understanding.

Classroom Talk: 5/30/2003 - There are times when the greatest act of kindness we can express towards another human being is to swallow our own sadness, or to refuse to make that sarcastic or impatient remark. Acts of kindness such as these cost us ourselves, and when we agree to pay this price it is a better, brighter world that we buy back.