336. Every Last Tool

Being aware is not without its challenges. Greater awareness necessarily means greater compassion, and compassion demands action. Compassion is not content with merely seeing how the world already is and allowing it to carry on producing suffering without end. It will not allow us to hide and enjoy our own safety and security while others suffer in need.

But the enormity of the task before us can be overwhelming. That so many are struggling with unmet needs means that significant changes are required. Changes not just to individuals but also to the systems we have constructed that actively work against compassion. It can sometimes feel like we need to go to war with the whole world just to be able to fix it.

And there is some truth to this, for we often will have to fight on behalf of need. We will have to fight using every possible means available to us. Compassion does not abandon its demands simply because the means are unsavoury or laws will be broken. To act from compassion is to use every last tool in whatever ways it must be used to meet needs and reduce suffering.

This means that sometimes there will be dangerous jobs that must be undertaken. It means that sometimes we will have to take enormous risks. It means that we might even have to risk our own lives. But make no mistake: lives have always been on the line. A world so lacking in compassion as this one kills millions without blinking an eye. This too is something we must see, and our response to it must recognize this brutal reality.

At the same time, compassion does not utilize means that are unnecessary. It does not waste resources — human or otherwise — on quests that serve no purpose but to satisfy desires for revenge or punishment. Our actions must be oriented towards meeting needs and creating awareness, which does not usually happen through conflict but through care and cooperation.

Compassion expands its reach when we learn how to end our suffering and create joy, and when we show others how to do the same. But we must keep in mind that what needs to be seen cannot always be shown by means that are all too quiet and peaceful.