Krishna Das shares his thoughts on what compassionate loving kindness really means, and tells the story of travelling to India and learning how to get out of his own way in life.
Compassionate Loving Kindness
What would Krishna Das say to someone who thinks the idea of compassionate loving kindness is naive? Krishna Das talks about how he believes in the One, that we are all cells in the same body, but there’s no forcing someone else into thinking that way.
“Compassionate loving kindness for other people, that’s how we forgive ourselves, that’s how we open our own hearts. We’re not doing it for someone else, but starting to think about other people and the pain that they’re in and the suffering that they’re living with, which underlies their own actions, that’s something that happens from within, it’s not something you do to another person.” – Krishna Das
Omid Safi shares wisdom on expanding our circle of compassion in Sufi Heart Ep. 19
Exquisite Torture (6:03)
Krishna Das begins the tale of when he had just started chanting with larger audiences, and was thinking about giving up. So he travelled to India in hopes that his guru, Maharajji, would ‘fix’ his problems. But on the way, Krishna Das was sidetracked by a health problem and a quest for some special medicine.
“It was the most exquisite torture, you can’t even imagine what happened. I have to tell you one story, it’s totally humiliating, but I don’t care. I love humiliation.” – Krishna Das
Nobody There (20:47)
Krishna Das continues the story of his trip to India 20 years after his guru had passed, and how he learned to get out of his own way. He talks about the experience of finally getting over himself and his storylines, and how it was all truly his guru’s grace.
“I was out of my own way for the first time in my life. Nobody there, nothing like that, none of the stuff, it had all disappeared. It was a fucking vacation.” – Krishna Das
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