The Shadow of Having Compassion for All Beings

Tenzin Gyatso, better known as His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, the 14th Reincarnation of the Buddha of Compassion, travels the world to ask only that we show compassion for our fellow human beings and for all other beings, sentient or not. I see a shadow in this and I believe that this shadow is that I often forget to have compassion for myself and as a result of this common human frailty, I often express the lack of compassion for myself, that full expression of wholeness and completeness in myself as a lack of compassion for others. I believe that each time I recognize a lack of compassion for another, I have the opportunity to recommit to my experience of wholeness in myself with that, to express compassion with myself and with all other beings, whether they be human, animal, vegetable, or mineral, including my mother earth. It sounds simple enough and it really is that simple. The difficulty is in catching myself not experiencing my wholeness which shows up as not being compassionate for myself and for others. It is in that catching myself in the act that I have the opportunity to retify my “missing the mark” by cleaning up any messes I made while I was not noticing my wholeness. It is in the catching of myself and in cleaning up the messes I create in the state of non-wholeness that I believe puts me on an even par with His Holiness himself.