Courage

Talking about the heart leaping towards the loved one yesterday I realised that this action - the leap of the heart into the fray - should be the trigger for every action we make. The giving heart. The courageous heart. This is what the buddhists mean by compassion - the heart leaping into the next moment, and then the next, and then the next. It is very difficult, and all your negative conditioning (including your thinking mind) will conspire against it. However, it is absolutely vital. It is the very first stage of yielding - entering - and if it is managed sensitively and wisely (appropriately) then further stages of yielding are often unnecessary. It is what we mean by "forget self and become one with the Tao" - put aside those aspects of you that prevent your heart leaping carelessly forward. If there is just one thing to devote one's life to then it should be the study of this. All else comes after and will follow naturally.