"The hardest state to be in is one in which you keep your heart open

to the suffering that exists around you, and simultaneously keep your

discriminative wisdom.... Once you understand that true compassion is

the blending of the open heart and quiet mind, it is still difficult

to find the balance. Most often we start out doing these things

sequentially. We open our hearts and get lost in the melodramas, then

we meditate and regain our quiet center by pulling back in from so

much openness. Then we once again open and get sucked back into the

dance....

So it goes cycle after cycle. It takes a good while to get

the balance.... You have to stay right on the edge of that balance.

It seems impossible, but you can do it. At first, when you achieve

this balance, it is self-consciously maintained. Ultimately, however,

you merely become the statement of the amalgam of the open heart and

the quiet mind. Then there is no more struggle; it's just the way you

are."

~ Ram Dass