Last Friday after work I was "starving" so I decided to go to my new favorite fast food Chinese restaurant. Desiring to satisfy my hunger I fled from the parking lot as quickly as possible but instead I was met by a long line of cars attempting to do the same. Realizing that my haste was met with slow moving traffic, I settled in my seat and allowed patience to be the space in which I dwelled. As I finally approached the front of the line I noticed a man standing next to the stop sign, holding his own sign, which read "lost my job, anything will help." Although his sign lacked a bright red background reflecting white bold letters, it spoke just as loudly as the stop sign into my vision of a world that works for all. This man was caucasian, appeared to be in his mid 50s, decently dressed and held an expression of humility within his still smile. I scrambled for change but could only find a $5 dollar bill. I hesitated for a moment to consider my own finances but then rolled the frosted window down and gave the money to the man. After all, the physical paper that we refer to as money is just that...paper, but what we have made it mean is far greater than the material matter of which it is composed. What I was giving was much more than paper, I was giving love and the man, with his gratitude gave it right back. He said: "thank you so much, this is too much really. You are the best!" I smiled at the man who made my day and let him know that "it wasn't a problem," it was actually the solution..love.
As u pulled away fom this man, I wept...
I wept for everything I have been given and for everything that had been taken from him. It was at this moment that I understood that compassion is a state of being. The space that no longer existed between myself and this man, his worries and mine was compassion. Our interaction with one another for those few seconds was compassion, compassion is not feeling sorry for someone, it's the experience of connection to another soul that acknowledges the oneness between you and allows you to feel their sorrow as well as their joy. Compassion is a state of consciousness beyond forgiveness, for in this state of oneness no one can be your enemy lest you be an enemy to yourself through the false illusion of separation, which is a tool of the ego. The ego is responsible for the archaic perspective of "survival" which promotes superiority and thereby a notion of separation. In this perspective, someone must lose in order that one may win; however, in the oneness that is our true nature, we transcend a survival existence and ascend into a living beyond physicality, where "love" is our currency and "compassion" is our language.
