"Use yourself up for goodness, until nothing is left ,but ashes that blow away"....Compassion

I have just returned from a retreat at the Upaya Zen Center near SantaFe , New Mexico . The center was founded by the inspiring Buddhist teacher ,anthropologist and humanist,Roshi Joan Halifax.The retreat that I attended was on the topic of "the neurobiology of mindfulness, compassion , ie; mindsight."Dan Siegel,M.D. , who coined the term "mindsight" presented his perspective and insights on the current state of neuroscience and how it relates to the hard wiring of the brain for mindful awareness of our selves and compassion for each other.Dan and Roshi discussed how ancient wisdom practices that teach us the art of self awareness allow us to be compassionate , empathic ,and inter-related to each other.These practices ultimately connect us in the present and also eventually have meaning that reach beyond the now, over time and space,beyond this current generation and geography.In other words , how we relate to each other now has effect on future generations as well.
These are some thoughts I carry with me from the wise compassion of Roshi Joan
Halifax at Upaya.These are not verbatum quotes :


It is because of the pain in the world that we need happiness.
A personal practice requires discernment.We can not hand out undiscerned prescriptions for self practices of wisdom such as meditation.
We need to differentiate between feeling another's suffering and an empathic stance to suffering.
A mindfulness practice teaches us that;
I want the best for as many people as possible.
I will do my best always for as many people as possible.
I will have no neutrality regarding the above two statements,but at the same time will not be attached to the outcome of my desires and actions.
How can I be of benefit to others?
We must take the path of the worm ,not the path of the jaguar.
You need a daily practice to be engaged.
You have to be in the trenches to do your work and be of service to the world.
Use yourself up for goodness,until nothing is left but ashes that blow away.
The illusion that we are separate from each other is an illusion.
Practices of mindfulness prevent us from getting caught up in delusions of identity.

here is a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye that embodies Roshi's words.
It is called "Kindness"
Naomi Shihab Nye from Neil Astley on Vimeo.
Kindness

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.
Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.
Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.