Yesterday in our early morning Deepening Your Practice class, I found myself quoting not the Buddha, but Pope Francis. The Pope recently gave a clear, moving talk about interconnectedness, lovingkindness and compassion. It was a TED talk! He sat at a desk in the Vatican and spoke to the whole world about a revolution of tenderness, “la tenerezza.” This is the love that is close, intimate and real. As he looked us in the eye, the power of love that connects, comforts, and cares was conveyed kindly and firmly. “Tenderness means using eyes to see each other, the ears to listen to the children, to the poor, to those who are afraid of the future, to the silent cry of our common home, of our sick and polluted earth.”
This is true strength, as we learn in Mindful Self Compassion class, the bravery it takes to open our hearts in genuine compassion for ourselves and our world. At this point in my practice, I feel so porous and permeable that everyone’s suffering permeates my heart, both human and nonhuman beings. It takes both fortitude and joy to bear the openness that comes when we don’t separate ourselves from all that is.
On this day, it’s good to be reminded that governments are only part of the picture. Our fate is in our mindful hands and strong hearts. It’s good to hear words of hope blooming in the midst of humanity’s tragedies. As Pope Francis says, “A single individual is enough for hope to exist and that individual can be you. And then there will be another you and another you and it turns into an us. When there is an ‘us’ there can be a revolution.” Let’s make it a revolution of tenderness, and bring all our courage and love into actual, concrete actions to protect all beings and a planet our human future can live in!
Love Trudy