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Build Compassionate Communities

USA Community Projects

Birmingham, Alabama

By excellence reporter on October 8, 2018

For the Golden Rule to thrive in society, we must awaken to the Oneness that we share as human beings. For if we perceive everyone as part of us, then can we truly have compassion for them. Loving others as we love ourselves is the first step in building a society where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. And to do this, we must awaken that unconditional love of the Universe that is our essence. If we awaken the heart within, we “see” everything and everyone with the eyes of love. And from this consciousness flows compassion and loving-kindness.

Compassion comes from the knowledge that everything is perfect as it is. Acceptance with WHAT IS gives us the power to change. Eckhart Tolle says, “Accept – then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it.”

When we accept people, situations, events and ideologies as they are, we can then move on to fully understand what needs to happen so that everyone is treated with respect for their life journey. Being compassionate is not about rescuing people from their life situation. It’s about accepting their situation as it is and not thinking of it as wrong. Once acceptance is allowed, then alleviating the suffering that may be arising from the situation can be addressed. In this way, a person’s dignity is restored and their right to Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness can be achieved.

Eckhart Tolle says, “To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad. It seems almost paradoxical, yet when your inner dependency on form is gone, the general conditions of your life, the outer forms, tend to improve greatly. Things, people, or conditions that you thought you needed for your happiness now come to you with no struggle or effort on your part, and you are free to enjoy and appreciate them – while they last. All those things, of course, will still pass away, cycles will come and go, but with dependency gone there is no fear of loss anymore. Life flows with ease.”

Helping people learn their true identity as light beings of the universe is the most compassionate role a person can play. It has a lasting effect that is most transformative.

 

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~Nabella Shunnarah is a retired English instructor and writer living in Birmingham, Alabama.

https://excellencereporter.com/2018/10/08/nabella-shunnarah-what-makes-a-compassionate-community/

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