LEARNING TO LICK OUR OWN WOUNDS
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” Buddha O nly a deep awareness of our own imperfection can help us understand our fellow-beings’. “I am imperfect”… “I am fallible”… “I don’t have all the answers”… “I need help from others” – this realization helps us to be kind. Patience, tolerance, empathy, forgiveness and healing… Yes, they come from a deep realization of our imperfection. It is not possible for us to deeply relate to our fellow-beings, if we do not recognize our own imperfection and need for interdependence? The lesser we see my own flaws and fallibility, the more we distance ourselves from our fellow-beings. Conversely, the more we see our own flaws and fallibility, the closer we get to our fellow-beings. Thus, before we learn to forgive others, we need to forgive our own selves. Compassion towards others begins with compassion to ourselves. This is an important lesson for inner peace. Yet, it’s the most elusive one. Ju...