Those who see worldly life as an obstacle to Dharma see no Dharma in everyday actions; they have not yet discovered that there are no everyday actions outside of Dharma.

—Eihei Dogen

Too often, people think that solving the world’s problems is based on conquering the earth rather than touching the earth, touching ground.

—Chogyam Trungpa

By showing grace to you, by my own power, I have revealed to you my highest form.

—Bhagavad Gita

If we source our sense of being from the Witness instead of the ego, our action as well as our orientation in the world changes. This change occurs largely because our surrender to what is offers each of us a profound clarity in any circumstance we might find ourselves. This clarity works to connect us to our Ultimate Life, and in the process we become much less attached to our contracted sense of self. This flowering of deep openness allows us to see something profound. Openness to the Oneness of Spirit supports our recognition that the many is also equally representative of Spirit. Compassion is truly seeing that the multiplicity of Spirit is reflected in each and every thing in the Universe.

I once heard a spiritual teacher say that we can look at compassion as an unattached version of love—a love beyond hatred, jealousy, or possessiveness. When we bring presence into our bodies, compassion shows itself as an empathy that arises for all beings regardless of how the ego might judge any of them. From this view, we see each sentient being as a reflection of ourselves, and we see that their experience is inseparable from our own. This deep commonality with all things arises within the expanding context brought on by our stillness practice. Quite simply, recognizing the totality of this connection is the birth of wisdom. Any action that is consciously sourced from this wisdom shows itself as compassion—a love beyond any grasping.

We’ve discussed how any participation in circumstance, as long as it is grounded in the full witnessing of the event, will come from the vast and powerful source of all things that we’ve called Spirit, the Ninth Sense, and Emptiness. All of these names point toward and reflect an infinite openness. As such, any action sourced from this place can’t help but be unfathomably loving. This love will also be freely given without any attachment to compromise the offering. When we act in this way, we change the world by becoming a point where the typical delusion of separation is ended and where Awakening can resonate in the hearts and minds of others as they experience the compassionate expression of their true nature through us.

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