A Fullness of Heart - � Love, Healing & �Well-Being in Troubling Times��� Rose Gordon� Circle of Compassionate Care�circleofcompassionatecare.squarespace.com
A heart full of love and compassion is the main source of inner strength, willpower, happiness and mental tranquility.
His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama
“ Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul….It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation.”
Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, Persian Poet
“I tell you this�to break your heart,�by which I mean only�that it break open and never close again�to the rest of the world.”
poet, Mary Oliver
Kintsugi
What gold can you use to tend the raw, painful feeling in your heart when its breaking open to suffering?
What gold can mark and honor the depth and sacred nature of your experiences of grief and loss and anguish?�
Identify some objects, people, activities, landscapes, sounds, scents that give you comfort and can nurture your heart with joy. � � They are part of a treasure chest to sustain you in troubling times.��
Lovingkindness is:
Lovingkindness Phrases
May ___ have health and the causes and conditions of health
May ___ have happiness and the causes and conditions of happiness
May ____ have peace and ease in body and mind
May ____ be free of danger
Compassion
To be with suffering
First, we feel the trembling of the heart in response to suffering.
Then, as Sharon Salzberg teaches, we lean towards the suffering in a way that is deeply, steadily, calmly present.
Compassion:� �Giving and Receiving�Our quiet, powerful medicine for suffering
Equanimity
Equanimity is the WISE SISTER of Compassion.
It recognizes life as it is . It grounds us in a world that is constantly changing. It supports us as we ride the waves of change.
Equanimity is NOT INDIFFERENCE – It is an evenness of mind that enables us to remain alert for danger and calm in the midst of emergency.
“Equanimity is the capacity to be in touch with suffering and at the same time not be swept away by it. Instead, we develop trust in our inherent strength and our good nature – we can face into the situation and respond with clarity rather than fear.”
Roshi Joan Halifax
Equanimity and compassion work best together to respond to suffering.
Compassion without equanimity can devolve into pity.
Equanimity without compassion can be cold and harsh.
�Sympathetic Joy is: �
An unselfish joy in the good fortune of others.
Joy is NOT in a quantifiable, limited supply.
We take notice of the joy in our own life and appreciate our own blessings and successes.
We remember that joy and success of others DOES NOT diminish our own access to joy.
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The poet Mark Nepo said:
“The key to knowing joy is being easily pleased.”�
May you have health and the causes and conditions of health.
May you have happiness and the causes and conditions of happiness.
May you have peace and ease in body and mind.
May you be free of danger.
I wish you days and years of continued success, filled with health and full heartedness. May the qualities of lovingkindness, compassion, equanimity and sympathetic joy and guide your work and support your life.
Thank you for being.