Teaching 44: Why Compassion and Loving Kindness are Essential
The purpose of [loving-kindness and compassion practices] is to cultivate the intention to embrace all parts of yourself and to overcome feelings of separation from yourself and others. Thus, you learn to receive and work with your faults as sources of needless suffering, and spontaneously move toward change in order to relieve that suffering… Compassion is a responsive movement of the heart that allows you to be at peace in the midst of pain and turmoil…Loving-kindness is the intention of goodwill toward yourself and others.
Chapter 10, Pg 110 - 111
For your reflection: Being mindful of clinging to desire is so difficult for the ego that it requires a tender attitude toward yourself. Each morning before you get out of bed do just three minutes of loving-kindness practice for yourself. And during the day when you are feeling suffering, take a moment to do compassion practice. Examples of these practices can be found on page 111 of Dancing with Life.