Exemplary Compassion (Part One)
Practicing To Make Yourself Impeccable (Complete) opposes being disheveled.
Unlike most of the waypoints along the Heartwood Path, this atypical four-part stop will take more than one day to complete. Take your time. Developing the integrity of wholeness and becoming more compassionate are not simple endeavors.
The Heartwood Path leads to the development of big-heartedness, not some wimpy form of pity, but exemplary compassion. There are three key ways to become commendably compassionate, each slow to develop:
morality (ethics, morals, and principles);
determined contemplation; and
understanding.
These three ways to compassion lead to a meaningful life. They are borrowed from the Dali Lama’s book, How to Practice (2002). Each way to compassion is related, just as the roots, trunk and branches of a tree are all related. It takes morality and determined contemplation to achieve the enduring calmness that, when combined with the special insight that comes from understanding, leads to a meaningful life. In this way, each type of practice serves as the basis for the next. Understanding depends on the removal of distractions and faulty mental states. While this removal is achieved by determined contemplation, there can be no success with determined contemplation until one, metaphorically speaking, emulates the whole Heartwood Path Tree of Impeccability, as shown below and described in the next three waypoints.
To Develop Empathy…
HumaNatureConnect Activity
If this is not a day when you prefer to spend time in nature without an agenda, do the following activity:
Start-up Protocol
Read The Text — Use your literary sense, your mind sense, and your reason sense to read your way towards happiness and sustainability but do not just be an arm-chair traveler. Use your other natural senses as you also spend healthful, fun, and productive time in nature on your way to Gladandgreen Junction.
Attractive Natural Being — With pen and journal in hand, go to a natural area and look around to find a natural being that is attractive to you.
Appreciation and Gratefulness — While admiring your chosen being, appreciate it with your inhalations and give it gratitude with your exhalations.
Consent — Once you find an aspect of nature that is attractive to you continuously for at least ten seconds, think of your continued attraction as your consent to have a connection experience that will lead to your optimal functioning.
The Natural Senses — After gaining consent to enter into a connection experience with the natural being, have available the list of Natural Senses. Mix it up by using at least one radiation sense, one feeling sense, one chemical sense, and one mental sense, to widen your perception, and add variety to your experience.
HumaNatureConnect Activity — After reading the text, finding a natural being, appreciating it, gaining its consent, and scanning the list of natural senses, use your heightened awareness and nature-induced optimal functioning to do the following activity and engage in as many follow-up components as you see fit.
Generating Empathy Towards Others
For this activity, think about the keys to compassion, which need to be used in the following order:
The Development of Morality (ethics, morals, and principles)
Think of a situation in your life that needs the application of some form of ethics, morals or principles.
The Practice of Determined Contemplation
Think of one topic and only one topic that tends to make you calm.
The Exercise of Understanding
Think of how one of your favorite natural beings such as a tree or a rock cliff and consider in depth how that being arose (how it came into being).
Do not be concerned if you are not fully versed in these components at this point. Just jot down your initial thoughts at this point. More on these topics follows in the next two waypoints.
Follow-up Protocol
Natural Systems Reflection Process
For best results, write down your impressions of this activity in your journal using as many of the following components as you see fit, afterwards, share your interpretations with others.
Journal Components
General Description — writing a general description of how you did the activity and what happened.
Freeform — writing, in freeform, what you found attractive about your natural being.
Three Qualities — writing down three qualities you found most attractive about your natural being.
Three Learnings — writing down three things you learned from this activity.
Self-esteem & Trust — writing down how, if at all, this activity changed your self-esteem or trustfulness of Nature.
Changes To Self — writing down what aspects of your self, if any, were changed by this activity.
Honor Yourself — praising yourself and your commitment to making another stop along the Heartwood Path good for yourself and the world.
I’m A Person Who . . . — writing down three different so-called “G/G Statements” using the following format: “This connection experience tells me that I am a person who__________.”
Feelings If Activity Taken — writing down a sentence about how you would feel if you lost your ability to experience this connection.
Nature Compared To Self — creating a sentence that reads: “I love this (insert words that identify the attractive natural being) because it is (insert words that refer to the qualities you like about the natural being).” Then, creating a parallel sentence that reads: “I love (insert the word “myself”) because I am (insert the same qualities as before).” If only one follow-up component can be done at any one waypoint, do this one. It reveals a lot about the participant quickly. In group settings it is a very good way to get pertinent conversation underway.
Ride The Green Wave — determining whether you understand and agree with all of the Ten Green Wave Validation Statements. In your journal, give yourself a plus sign (+) if you do agree and a minus sign (-) if you do not agree. Do not worry if you do not give yourself a plus sign (+). These notations are merely for your own information. Regardless of your own plus or minus assessments, you are always free to move on; or, if you are attracted to do so, you can always revisit the waypoint, ask for Guidance, and/or redo the activity.
Two-Word Summary — writing down two words that summarize your response to this activity.
The Heartwood Path Exchange:
Swap Your Ideas, Impressions, Photos, And News With Others
Post your impressions and photos in the Comments at the bottom of the page
Engage with others in your Heartwood Path course or salon
Create your own salon that meets regularly online, by phone, or in person
Discuss your impressions with trusted family members and friends
Post your impressions and photos in our EartHeart Networking Forum
Post your impressions on this specific waypoint on our Facebook Page
Join the broader conversations on our Facebook Page
To see what conversations you can inspire, share your photos and impressions about anything pertaining to your journey down the Heartwood Path on your Facebook page, on Instagram, and on other social media accounts. If you like, include “#heartwoodpath” and “#waypoint(insert waypoint number here)” wherever pertinent.