Firefighters, Bodhisattvas, and compassion. I know; it seems like these don’t go together. But read on, dear ones. We’ve been learning about Right Intention this month, and we’ve talked about how we can clarify our right intentions by practicing renunciation, good will, and harmlessness. Today, I want to talk about compassion.

Compassion is so central to the Eightfold Path. I’m sure it will arise again and again. When we experience enlightenment, we naturally offer compassion to all. That’s why the Bodhisattva Vow is such a great example of living compassionately. The word “bodhisattva” simply means “enlightened one.” But the true meaning is someone who chooses to stay in the cycle of rebirth in order to continue to lessen the suffering of others. In other words, it’s a way of living out that beautiful commandment to love your neighbor as yourself.

When someone takes the bodhisattva vow, they commit to being present to suffering, and also offering compassion to all who suffer. It’s a big job. It is, by design, a rather impossible job. Which is why it’s important to get really clear about how you can offer compassion without becoming empty.

Because empty is never the goal, and never a good sign.

Bhante Gunaratana offers this wonderful metaphor: firefighters. He says that firefighters willingly put their lives on the line to save others. They are, more directly than most of us, practicing being bodhisattvas. But they don’t just run into a burning house without protection, or without training. They wear layers of fire-repellant clothing. They go through rigorous training to learn not only how to save people but how to save themselves.

So hear this very clearly: you cannot be a compassion firefighter without your gear and without your training. It would not be honorable at that point; it would just be stupid. Don’t waste your safety, or your life, like that.

I love that in Tibetan, compassion can be translated as “nobility of heart.” When we begin to understand compassion this way, we can discern between those places or people who are asking beyond what we can give, and those situations where we can wisely offer compassion from an open (and still protected) heart.

It’s such a delicate balance. But it is deeply important to feel the internal harmony of this. Perhaps “nobility of heart” will also help you to find that harmonic place.

This week, can you try to place your intentions within the nobility of heart that is compassion?

And can you offer yourself compassion for those places within you that may feel overextended or depleted?

This post belongs to a series on the Eightfold Path. You can read all my posts on practicing Right Intention here.