Food For Thought: Compassion and Emptiness

With Curated Photographs of the Day and Bonus Quote of the Day

I ran across this quote some time ago and found there was so much to ponder. Every now and then I find myself looking back on this quote and pondering...

Compassion and emptiness are two sides of the same coin.  Don't relax your grip on compassion, and don't let emptiness become nihilistic nothingness.  To cultivate these two in union is very important. — Rinchen Tashi of Gyalzang¹

Life is always such a balancing act.

We have good days and bad days. Sometimes we have long stretches of both. We must remain compassionate with ourselves and others in the midst of the bad days or bad times. We can not let ourselves become so empty that there is “nihilistic nothingness” where there should be balance.

Quan Yin in the Secret Garden

In “nihilistic nothingness,” we lose sight of everything including ourselves.

I have slipped into this nothingness on occasion and I know it is a steep climb out of the darkness that comes with it. It’s a much different place than the empty mind place that we cultivate with meditation, prayer and compassion.

Herein lies the need to find balance even under the most dire of circumstances.

Sometimes we need to go to the depths of darkness to find the light once again. Sometimes looking for the light feels somewhat hopeless. Perhaps we feel powerless in the face of the circumstances we are thrust into. Maybe we need to rest and renew in order to find our way.

Despite everything that might happen in our lives, I believe that the light is always there waiting for us. Perhaps we must go out with lanterns to find ourselves and our light.

Just as compassion and emptiness are two sides of a coin, so too are the light and the darkness.

Namaste… Pamela

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Bonus Quote of the Day:

Related Posts:

1. Tashi Rinchen - (1824-1865) was the 36th hierarch of the Sakya school, one of the four major traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and the founder of the Drolma Podrang.