What Is Compassion?: Hui Chao Asks About Buddha (Original Staging Nonfiction‪)‬

Zen Buddhism emphasizes meditation as the means to study ourselves and understand who we truly are. The Mountains and Rivers Order of Zen Buddhism (MRO) was founded in 1980 by American Zen Master John Daido Loori, Roshi. The MRO is an organization of associated temples, practice centers, and sitting groups in the United States and abroad. Daido Roshi is the abbot of the MRO's main house, Zen Mountain Monastery in Mount Tremper, NY, and Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Sensei is resident teacher at the MRO's New York City affiliate, Zen Center of New York City: Fire Lotus Temple. The MRO seeks to provide modern training that integrates spiritual practice with daily life. Dharma talks are an essential aspect of Zen training, and the talks offered here were given at both Zen Mountain Monastery and the Zen Center of New York City.


Distance and separation harden the heart, making suffering inevitable. Names, labels, hatred, criticism, everywhere we look, we see how separation breeds pain and suffering. But when that distance is closed, something very profound takes place. We close the gap by getting to know our own pain, by understanding how our greed, anger, and ignorance create distance. This allows us to open our hearts, and understand that the person standing next to us is probably feeling the exact same way. When we realize that self and other are not two, compassion is the natural result.