' The Energy of Compassion '...

Jesus told us to love our enemy.
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
This teaching helps us know how to look
At the person we consider to be the cause for our suffering.

If we practice looking deeply into his situation
And the causes of how he came to be the way he is now,
And if we visualize ourselves as being born in his condition,
We may see that we could have become exactly like him.

When we do that, compassion arises in us naturally,
And we see that the other person is to be helped, and not punished.
In that moment, our anger transforms itself into the energy of compassion.


- Thich Nhat Hanh