May 14, 2026 · 55 min · 17 segments
Compassion – the tender resonance of heart – awakens as we allow ourselves to be touched by our shared vulnerability. This series reflects on four primary expressions of an awake, wise heart…
Tara BrachHost
I gave it a good shot, right? [laughs] So appropriately, we're, um, in the midst of a four-part series on, uh, awakening the present heart, and this is, uh, the f- the first one.
The first one that we did was on awakening loving kindness, which is the, uh, seeing the goodness and responding to the goodness in life.
The second is compassion, which is what we'll be doing at this class, and then we move on to joy and equanimity.
And in the Buddhist tradition, these four are called the Brahmaviharas, or the divine abodes, 'cause they really express the, uh, capacity and potential of our awakening heart.
So in thinking about each one of them, we look at, you know, really what's blocking this, this innate capacity we have, and what cultivates it.
So as we think of compassion tonight, I'd like to invite you to bring to mind someone you know, or if you don't know anyone, someone you know of, who you really consider as, uh, authentically compassionate.
And just take a moment to sense that person and what are the qualities that come to mind.
What is it that, that you feel in them? What lets you know that quality of heart is there? See if this description from Henri Nouwen resonates.
He says, "When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find it's those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand.
I gave it a good shot, right? [laughs] So appropriately, we're, um, in the midst of a four-part series on, uh, awakening the present heart, and this is, uh, the f- the first one.
The first one that we did was on awakening loving kindness, which is the, uh, seeing the goodness and responding to the goodness in life.
The second is compassion, which is what we'll be doing at this class, and then we move on to joy and equanimity.
And in the Buddhist tradition, these four are called the Brahmaviharas, or the divine abodes, 'cause they really express the, uh, capacity and potential of our awakening heart.
So in thinking about each one of them, we look at, you know, really what's blocking this, this innate capacity we have, and what cultivates it.
So as we think of compassion tonight, I'd like to invite you to bring to mind someone you know, or if you don't know anyone, someone you know of, who you really consider as, uh, authentically compassionate.
And just take a moment to sense that person and what are the qualities that come to mind.
What is it that, that you feel in them? What lets you know that quality of heart is there? See if this description from Henri Nouwen resonates.
He says, "When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find it's those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand.
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