I have stood alone on rocky shore,
asking for forgiveness in contrition,
And looked across the sea into the sunset
and known God's benediction.
~ Aileen Mercurio with thanks to Richard Pottios
This tenderness for life, bodhichitta, awakens when we no longer shield ourselves from the vulnerability of our condition, from the basic fragility of existence. It awakens through kinship with the suffering of others. We train in the bodhichitta practices in order to become so open that we can take the pain of the world in, let it touch our hearts, and turn it into compassion.