i think the thing i like best about Buddhism is the manner in which, at any moment, what is needed… appears. today’s example, a quote found in a thread speaking on the compassion, working as a bodhisattva, and the process of striving:
The bodhisattva way is to suffer so that others may be free from suffering, to work so that others may be free from labor, to be an abode to all without shelter, and to be a light for all who are in darkness.
Bodhisattvas abide in the wisdom of the emptiness of suffering, thus they can be beyond their own suffering while acting as a healer.
To bridge this with my previous answer, be a healer, but exhibit moderation and mindfulness. When you become too wrapped in another being’s suffering, take a step back, and remember that much of our suffering we bring upon ourselves. When you become too idle, take action, for wisdom without action is lame.
indeed. often times, i suffer for wanting too much to help others and being unable (for whatever reason) to do so. it is, many times, an acute pain… but, as this quote demonstrates, when it is so, it is so only because i envelope myself in the suffering of others.
there is a balance to be found in regard to more fully knowing when such effort is helpful, and when it is only impediment. there is also insight to be gained in learning how to consistently, effectively discern when it is possible to help and when it is impossible to do so.
the issue here is simple — i never want to admit it is impossible. there is a fundamental belief in infinite possibility and often, not enough acceptance that infinite possibility only exists when choices remain unmade… both others and my own.
it is a deep lesson, and i admit i am reluctant to learn it. but i am learning it, slowly, and learning as well how to stop digging in my heels and attempting to counter “what is” in the name of “what might be.”
this, more fully underscored tonight in an event that left me aching, angry, and hurt… only to discover upon contemplation that all three were not the result of impossibility, but of my own eagerness to see it possible.
odd methods, the universe. effective, strikingly so at times, but odd nonetheless.