The Four Qualities of the Heart

The practice of the four brahmavihara are essential to truly breaking down the perceived barriers between self and other:
1) Friendliness toward the joyful - August
2) Compassion for those who are suffering - Sept
3) Celebrating the good in others - Oct
4) Remaining impartial to the faults & imperfections of others - Nov
(yoga sutra 1.33)

September Theme:  Compassion for those who are suffering – At first glance, this may seem easy, but compassion and empathy are different than pity.  Many of us are distanced from real suffering, so may pity those who are suffering and believe this pity to be  compassion or understanding.  We may even further distance ourselves and see these people as invisible.
How can we develop true compassion without being overwhelmed by it?  We can start with what feels most real to us.  Your greatest suffering can be turned into your greatest gift for developing empathy toward others.  Where have you suffered in your life?  The greatest gift Yoga has given to me is to learn that everyone has a story, and that most of us have been doing our best to survive or thrive based on our stories or assumed identities in the best way we know how.

Judgment is a way to distance ourselves from someone else's suffering by essentially blaming them for it.  In doing this, we create the illusion that this perceived distance somehow protects US from the possibility of suffering.  We create this illusory protective bubble of false happiness.  Really, we are all connected, we can not truly separate ourselves.  This false protective bubble is a tightly controlled field of "happiness" that is not true joy.

We all have suffering and joy in our lives.  There is universal suffering and universal joy, and if we can see ourselves as part of something bigger, and begin to see everyone as some small part of ourselves, we can begin to develop more compassion and understanding and less pity, guilt, and judgment.
We'd love to hear from you about your experience, practice or wisdom related to how you experience true compassion without pity or guilt.  Go to the Flow Yoga Facebook page, become a "Friend", and share your experience about practicing this month's brahmavihara:  www.facebook.com/home.php