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I talk a lot of cuss ( Fantastic Mr. Fox reference). Its usually factually based but I talk a lot of BS. I have a talent for gleaning knowledge from slivers of information. I am also blessed with a curiosity level that allows requires me to be interested in all sorts of random stuff, very little is uninteresting to me. On the surface that's all pretty harmless but I am discovering that it is actually quite ego driven which isn't so harmless. I am reading a book that is forcing me to evaluate my actions and their motives. The book is The Lost Art of Compassion . The premise is that some Buddhist thought and some western psychology agree that when you are truly compassionate you are happier. I buy that and I want to be that. The book gives some instruction on how to become compassionate and one thing it stresses is that narcissism drives most of us more than we can imagine. Narcissism as the author tells is stealthy and this is where I come in. He talks about things we...

Can I just say how nice it is to work for people who are compassionate about the people who work for them and passionate about their business? From my boss all the way to THE boss I see that on a daily basis, reiterated and reinforced, no matter the external nor internal conditions. I do have a wonderful life. Addendum: I do realize I have coworkers who's mileage will differ and I am saddened to hear that.

Why do I insist on letting toxic people intrude on me? I have an acquaintance who is about as toxic as they come. They are lonely and insecure, they were put under lots of pressure to be perfect when they were kids and now they not only put that pressure on themselves but they put it on those around them. Every conversation I have with this person is a repeat of the last conversation. There are non- sequiters , there are blurbs, there are pronouncements, there are silences but most of the conversation is "Why do people do this (what ever this is) to me?" This person actually told me this weekend that they could not, I repeat, could NOT, accept the fact that everybody has different skills! How ridiculous and narcissistic is that? Jesus, if someone gets to their station in life b/c they know how to talk to people instead of graduating " Magna Cum Laude " big deal, right?! I get really frustrated. The thing I can't get past is in my eyes our upbringing is extreme...

This I truly believe. An act of meditation is actually an act of faith--of faith in your spirit, in your own potential. Faith is the basis of meditation. Not of faith in something outside you--a metaphysical buddha, an unattainable ideal, or someone else's words. The faith is in yourself, in your own "buddha-nature." You too can be a buddha, an awakened being that lives and responds in a wise, creative, and compassionate way. Martine Batchelor, " Meditation for Life "

Again with the high road stuff. We should not seek revenge on those who have committed crimes against us, or reply to their crimes with other crimes. We should reflect that by the law of karma, they are in danger of lowly and miserable lives to come, and that our duty to them, as to every being, is to help them to rise towards Nirvana, rather than let them sink to lower levels of rebirth. His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Compassion is the best healer. Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Ultimate Healing This is my new mantra. Although I have work to do on my ability for compassion I know others who really have some real issues with it. If I could just convince them that it isn't the "high road", it is the only road; and it is as much about showing compassion for yourself than others. On the way to work this morning I was reading more of Joseph Campbell's Hero with A Thousand Faces and it dawned on me that Virgos, at least as far as I see myself as a virgo, are naturally inclined towards this mentality. We are supposed to be objective and sympathetic which is the way I see things. People have misinterpreted my objectivity as negativity; that I am taking the other side but that's not it. I have to distance myself from the arguement to sort things out in my head and then I can look at both sides in a relatively even manner. I guess its hard for people to believe that you can be objective. That was...