Reading all the confrontational (read “nasty”) posts on a news group I frequent, I became aware of a strange feeling when meditating upon the people there.  Some of these people could be described by bystanders as they describe each other: dysfunctional, hateful, mentally challenged, and the list goes on.  They can be mean, polite, vengeful, arrogant, questioning, hurt, frustrated, thoughtful, closed-minded — a wide array of human experience.

But I cherish each one of them for who they are.  No I don’t want to hang out with all but a couple of them, and don’t trust a few not to do me harm if it suits them and they have the chance.  But I have a strange sense of Love for them as God Loves, evil words and baggage and all — even the ones who disrespect me personally.  But what I find most interesting about real compassion is that it is NOT pity.  That’s just another judgment and the opposite of compassion.  It’s a mechanism to justify condescension outward and/or inward.  It’s about acceptance.  Not APPROVAL mind you, but seeing people are just where they are.

I still will make judgment calls about how to deal with them based on what I believe about them — That is wise discernment, not judgment.  And keeping such compassion separates one from the karma of such relationships: Involvement without attachment to one’s perceptions of others’ identities, words, and actions.