Compassion For the Uncompassionate

A student came to the Teacher and asked, "How can I feel compassion for evildoers, and those who feel no compassion themselves?"

The Teacher replied, "There is no being that is not capable of compassion, though some appear to have nothing but hatred or lust in their hearts. Even the cruelest tyrant may behave quite differently with those he loves, such as his children. But that is not the reason for your compassion. Cruelty and avarice are signs of separation. Separation is painful, and the soul that has temporarily lost its ability to connect with Spirit is in a state of constant torment. In its suffering it turns upon itself and upon Spirit, as Spirit is manifested in other souls around it. Like an animal caught in a trap, that may chew off its own foot to escape, such a soul may seek even to destroy itself, but generally succeeds only in bringing itself to the point of maximum suffering. In a misguided attempt to lessen its pain, it drives itself even farther into chaos and dis-ease."

"How can you contemplate such agony and not feel compassion? If such a soul in torment is near you, it may try to hurt you. This is the only way it can see, in its blind state, to try to remove the separation and bring you closer to itself. Do not allow ego to make you react out of hurt or vengeance; for then you will be pulled into the trap. It is at such times that your compassion should be felt most strongly, for only with the force of love and compassionate connection can the vicious cycle be broken. Pray for the evildoer, and do not answer evil with more evil. Probe the defenses the misguided being hides behind; if not in this life, then perhaps the next, a crack will be found, the shell will be broken, and the perfect sinless soul within will be released into the light of compassion and love."

The student persisted, "But what of truly monstrous beings, such as Adolf Hitler or Osama Bin Laden? Surely they do not deserve our compassion?"

The Teacher rebuked the student, saying, "You are mistaken if you think compassion is a gift that you bestow upon others. Compassion is your obeisance to God, the recognition of the universal spirit that unites you with the other. If you lack compassion for any child of God you are choosing to separate yourself from God to that extent."

"Even those who seem to have come into this world only to cause pain and destruction are sinless children of God at the core of their being. Encrusted and bound as they are by the scars of past pain, the soul within still glows and yearns to be released. Osama's soul is like a man buried alive; his hatred is like a coffin blocking out all light and even air, and the weight of Separation bears down like tons of earth heaped upon him. Wrapped in ropes of pain, it struggles only to find itself held tighter. It will require much compassion and lovingkindness from others to free that soul from the crushing weight of all the pain its thrashing about has caused. But if Osama and the millions of others like him are ever to be deflected from their destructive course, it will be by the true force of love and compassion, which is Spirit, and not by the false and hollow means of further death and destruction."

"This lesson is of critical importance, and I urge you to include such souls especially in your lovingkindness meditation."