WISDOM
As human, we are easily clouded by attachments, emotions and conditionings. Our so-called "intelligence" and "life-smart" are superficially based on the life experiences and past encounters. The positive and negative reinforcements all contribute to who we are now, and how we view and react to life. We are all the product of our life journey and are shaped by our past.
It is essential that we recognize our own conditioning and how it has shaped us, so that we may move forward along the life path without clouded judgments. To keep moving along the life path, it is critical to utilize the Inner Light to self-illuminate, decipher, and discern actual reality from perceived reality, so that we can navigate from potential pitfalls along the life journey. We each have the ability, within ourselves, to be self-awakened. The Inner Light is within each one of our inner core. The Inner Light is darkened by our own conditioned perception of reality. Any teacher or mentor can only show us The Way and aid us in the right direction. However we ourselves must make our own journey to reach the destination. Once we understand The Teachings, we are accountable to use our Inner Light to self-illuminate and walk along The Path.
Ultimately, fate is in our own hands. Each of us needs to take accountability for our own actions. Each one of us, and ourself alone, reap both the sweet and the bitter fruits of our doings. It is not up to any outsider to grant us our rewards, nor to pardon our wrong-doings. The Teaching is our guide and the spiritual compass along the life path. Nirvana is not a place, nor is it a destination, somewhere in the future that can be reached only after death. It it a Timeless State of Being where inner peace is unwavering, and all things are fully illuminated for what they are. The Inner Light is an essential component, if we are to live in the here and now at full awareness and at Inner Peace.
COMPASSION
Compassion, empathy and kindness should be the foundation for our interactions with others. In the circle of life, we all pick the fruits from the seed we sowed. Some fruits are sweet and others are bitter. It is inescapable for anyone to claim that he/she did not experienced unfavorable Karma at some point in life. In our interactions with others, we may at times inadvertently or purposely plant the seeds for an unfortunate harvest. It is our ignorance to the consequence and/or the false belief that we can cheat fate and avoid the repercussion that we blindly continue in our ways.
We should do whatever we can, when circumstances are called upon, to help another life being by positively affecting another's life course. All life beings, whether a human or an animal, at some point in time, feel pain and suffering. The manifestation of antecedents, in the here and now, is what we face each day. We should do what we can to bring light and brightness into another's life, since each one of us is afflicted in one degree or another.
In the life journey, compassion helps us be at peace during the challenging times. Bi helps in several ways:
-to forgive and forget the wrongs of others
-to respond with compassion and pass light and kindness forward onto others
-to not propagate the hatred and resentments nor perpetuate any negativity