Dear Ones,
A Conscious Life demands that an individual be aware at all times of their thoughts, their feelings, the effect of what they are saying and doing on others, and the impact that every thought they hold has on the Universe at large. One cannot live a Conscious Life while ignoring others around them nor can one choose to be a ‘greedy hermit,’ one who chooses to think only of themselves and to gather what they can to themselves without concern about the greater good of All or the impact to others.
This means that, if you wish to live a Conscious Life, then you must find compassion within your heart as you go about every decision in your day.
Compassion goes far beyond giving alms to the poor or volunteering at a homeless shelter. Compassionate living requires constant attention to the people around you and those who will be impacted by your actions. Are you throwing trash on the floor that someone later must bend over and pick up? Are you expecting service from a restaurant worker and leaving a small tip or none at all? Do you celebrate that a clerk in a store made an error in your favor on your bill, forgetting or ignoring the fact that that clerk must pay that difference out of their own pocket?
And how do you treat the people you live with? Are you more courteous to your co-workers than to your family? Do you excuse rude behavior at home because you are tired from working all day? Do you have time for those who ask it of you, like a spouse or child or parent or friend? Or are you constantly finding excuses to avoid giving your time to others who might want or need it?
What do your thoughts in a day say about your level of compassion? When you pass someone in need, do you help or offer help or do you get angry at their being in your sphere? What kind of energy are you sending out with your thoughts of and toward others? How do you feel about debates in your society? Do your decisions, about politics or contributions or choosing friends, come from a place of genuine compassion for others or do they stem from prejudices, fears, intolerances?
All of these questions can lead you to an understanding of how a person who is living consciously does not compartmentalize compassion. When you choose a path in life that causes you to find fault with others, to criticize, to avoid interactions with those whom you deem unacceptable, according to some arbitrary criteria, then you are choosing a path away from the Path of Compassion. You might not even realize that you are making this choice but moving through Life in an unconscious manner causes you to lack compassion because you are unaware of the needs of others.
Practice compassion in your Life. Look around you with open eyes. Evaluate what you are doing and thinking by expanding your awareness to all who will be affected by your actions and thoughts. Really take the time to listen to others, to hear their hidden messages as they share with you. Become aware of your voice, your tone, your look when you communicate with another. Are you sending out the energy of caring and compassion or are you discounting that person? Are you in a conversation listening to the other person or are you busy thinking about what you want to say, or what you think, or what all this means for you?
The ‘greedy hermit’ thinks only of what they want, what they think they need. This kind of greed blocks the compassionate energy that all humans are born with. Little toddlers will try to share or to comfort or to help. When they learn to differentiate themselves from others they start to use the term ‘mine’ to try to define themselves and to learn where their boundaries are. If raised in a compassionate environment, they will continue to share and to care about the feelings of others. But if they are raised to grab all they can for themselves without regard to the consequences to others then they will learn to put on blinders and to shut down natural compassionate urges.
Model compassion for all around. Care. Listen. Share, especially yourself. As you give this sharing energy into the Universe, the Universe will respond with the same kind of energy toward you. Sharing keeps you from becoming a ‘greedy hermit’!

