Put Compassion in Action - Blessings of Wesak Season

As a reminder, we stand at a consciousness pivot point - a historical threshold that will determine the fate of life on Earth for centuries to come. What we collectively create here on Earth will impact life elsewhere across the cosmos.

Pivot From Ego to Love

The pivot involves a shift from ego and narcissism to love and compassion.

We can no longer pretend that what happens in one country is isolated in that place. Nationalism and wars have no place in the world we need to create together. The human family is interconnected across continents, through ancient blood lines, and through connected life missions orchestrated in a divine plan long ago. There are no "enemies." There is no "other."

The Jewel of Compassion

Cultivating compassion comes naturally to human beings. We hold this quality at our core. Focusing on the development of compassion is an essential part of our spiritual path. Indeed, to house and actively express compassion opens us to boundless blessings.

That's because compassion is the jewel that opens doors and creates miracles! Compassion also helps generate inner peace. To have peace of mind transforms your inner and outer reality.

Obstacles to Compassion

For those of us alive now on a conscious spiritual path, we must endeavor to face and remove our greatest hindrances to compassion: anger and hatred. That's because anger and hatred are NOT a part of our true nature. They come from ego and our long conditioning as human beings. Compassion cannot blossom fully within us when we are angry and hateful.

The true power of compassion unfolds through action. It is not enough to think about compassion, meditate about it, or feel it. We must put compassion into action.

7 Ways to Put Compassion in Action

Here are 7 ways to put compassion in action.

1. Start with you and express self-compassion. Give yourself space for self-care and take a time-out when needed. Actively listening to your wise inner guidance, take action on something beneficial to your well-being. Consider a daily practice of self-compassion - e.g. speak lovingly to yourself, calm yourself when you are stressed, reach out to a friend when you feel isolated.
2. Practice active listening when with other people. To deeply listen means holding space for others, and taking in what they say. You don't have to agree with people to respect them and actively listen.
3. When you see a stranger who seems troubled or aloof, smile. A simple smile can do wonders, for both of you.
4. Be polite and patient when encountering a clerk in a store.
5. Offer friendliness to others - regardless of what kind of day they appear to be having.
6. Put yourself in the other person's shoes. Like the Buddha teaches, imagine this person was your mother in a past life. Feel and respond with compassion to what the other person is sharing, doing, saying, or requesting.
7. When being served in a restaurant, show friendliness and gratitude for their service. Do this even if they forget to include a dish you ordered, or the meal isn't as tasty as last time you were there.

Compassion is one of the key qualities of enlightenment. It is a quality we learn to house and express over a series of lifetimes. Continue reading below to understand the blessings of Wesak season and beings like the Buddha who over the centuries achieved enlightenment.

The Blessings of Wesak Season

April 25 is the beginning of this year's Wesak Season, culminating the weekend of June 18 when we celebrate Post Wesak at Solstice. This is an auspicious time, when we have access to blessings from humans like us who achieved enlightenment and liberation from the ego. Examples: the Buddha, Kuan Yin, Tapihrista. The potential for enlightenment is encoded in our DNA.