How many of us have lived the life of constantly trying to avoid, replace, ignore and postpone anything that feels difficult, that stinks, that is boring, or is unpleasant?

In meditation we develop compassion, so that we can stand in a line and not suffer about it, so that we can be stuck in a traffic jam and not suffer about it, so that we can smell a disgusting smell, see unpleasant things, hear unpleasant things and develop a sense of tolerance, ease and compassion.

So that we can come to a place where we can say, “I have this really unpleasant thing happening, but I've developed the skill of being with the unpleasantness. I don't have to suffer about it anymore.”

Really, compassion is a very practical and necessary skill that we have to develop. A skill that we can develop through sitting meditation, through training the mind.

Compassion is not how our minds are innately wired; it's not a natural thing that any of us are born with. It is counter instinctual to meet all pain with compassion.

And there is also a lot of discernment that has to be developed on the path so that we can ask ourselves the question, “is this the kind of pain that I should be meeting with compassion in the form of just accepting it, caring about it? Or is this the kind of pain that I should do something about other than compassion?”

A lot of the times there is something that we can do, but we have to develop that wisdom, that discernment.