The Importance of Compassion

There are many different kinds of Dharma practice— hundreds of different mantras to recite, all kinds of meditation—but the most important of them all is the practice of compassion. -Lama Zopa Rinpoche Lama Zopa Rinpoche discusses how no matter how you lead your daily life—in retreat, studying Dharma, chanting sadhanas, reciting mantras or putting in long hours at the office—if you never let compassion leave your mind, if you constantly keep in mind the thought of benefiting others, everything you do becomes work for the welfare of others. These teachings were given during a four-day course at Tilopa Center, Decatur, Illinois, in August, 1997 and published in the LYWA free book, Virtue and Reality, edited by Nicholas Ribush.