Having Compassion

You know, when we think about letting go, we obviously need to think about compassion, as well. There's probably no better expert on compassion than the Dalai Lama, who at age 16, living in Tibet had to flee his home as the Chinese took over and murdered and tortured many of the Buddhist followers in the monastery where he had resided. When asked how he feels towards the people who committed these atrocities, he says he feels compassion.

Further asked why he doesn't feel anger and want revenge, his answer: he said if he feels anger and wants revenge, then that only makes him the equivalent of those who created these atrocities. It also means that those who created the atrocities still have an ongoing hold over him given that he can't let go of his anger and resentment. He feels compassion and love for them.

The Dalai Lama further tells a story about one of his brother monks, who was tortured for many years in jail, and on finally being released, announced that he was weak on four occasions. When asked what that weakness was, he said there were four days during those years that he didn't feel love and compassion towards those who were torturing him.

Now, these are hard yards for us because most of us aren't Buddhist monks. But, when you think about it, there's a lot of practicality in just having compassion because what it does is let go of any hold someone has over us who's done the wrong thing to you or by you. If you can let go of that hold, then you are letting go of fear, and remember what replaces fear is love. So, if we have love for those who have done the wrong thing to us or by us, they have no hold over us. I think this is an ingredient for success. Certainly, it's an ingredient for happiness.

What are you holding onto? Let's remember the words of Mahatma Gandhi: If we all take an eye for an eye, the whole world would be blind. Let go. Have compassion.