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How Suffering Opens Our Hearts
OM Times is a leading voice of the Conscious Community with articles covering the full spectrum of Conscious Living. Click here to see all we share.
How Suffering Opens Our Hearts to Compassion
by Dr. Paul Haider
Whenever we suffer, we open our hearts because we want someone to help us. Thus, we have the opportunity to find compassion. Buddha, Jesus, and many more, went through their own suffering and found great compassion to help others. How can a glutinous man have compassion for those who are hungry? When we have more than we need and are caught up in ego, how can we resonate with those who are hungry?
Ebenezer Scrooge, a character from A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, is a prime example of a man who, materially, had everything, but whose heart was closed. Having lost the most important aspect of himself a long time before, he shut down his heart when he lost the only girl he loved. Feeling angry, he shut out the world and shut down his heart in the process. He decided to scorn the world and use anyone and anything to get ahead and make money. Finally, he was given a second chance, which opened his eyes to all the suffering he was causing, including his own suffering. Thus, he was reborn to help others. In this epic, the stories of Christ, the Buddha, and many other great stories of suffering, are echoed that remind us to open our hearts and see the suffering around us.
Personally speaking, at one time in my life, I lived, for one year, in a 6×9 foot room with no windows, no bathroom and no running water. It was extremely difficult. One night, I broke down and started crying. Then, I yelled out, “God, I Will Not Give Up!” From that day forward, I would not allow anything or anyone to bring me down. That pivotal moment also opened my heart. I started helping the blind and doing work for the Alliance on Aging, as well as finding other ways of helping those who were suffering. This experience was my Ebenezer Scrooge, my Christ, and my Buddha moment that changed everything, including my heart. I might be crazy, but I would go back and do it all over again because it was worth it. I was reborn.
OM Times is a leading voice of the Conscious Community with articles covering the full spectrum of Conscious Living. Click here to see all we share.
Source: http://omtimes.com/2015/10/how-suffering-opens-our-hearts/
