---
title: "Mother's Day and Compassion"
date: 2007-05-14
description: "Spent yesterday with the family. Most of the day was just at home with my wife and children, it was nice and quiet. We watched a couple of sappy movies, which m..."
categories: ["Dharma Writings"]
tags: ["chenrezig", "compassion", "loving-kindness", "mom"]
url: /blog/mothers-day-and-compassion/
---

# Mother's Day and Compassion

Spent yesterday with the family.  Most of the day was just at home with my wife and children, it was nice and quiet.  We watched a couple of sappy movies, which made my wife smile and get all teary-eyed.

Late in the day we went to my mom's house for dinner with my brother and sister and their families, that was nice and low-key as well.

At some point yesterday I started reading a (http://www.fpmt-osel.org/meditate/l4chnres.htm) and thinking more about it.  Clearly I am not an authority on this meditation, nor am I an authority on Chenrezig or even Buddhism, but I do very much like this meditation.  I like how it flows, I like the imagery it creates in my mind and I especially like the way I feel when I am done.

> Rejoicing
>
>
>
With happiness, I rejoice in the ocean of virtues of developing the mind of enlightenment wishing to bring joy to all sentient beings and working for everyone's benefit.

As I read and then re-read this above excerpt many times I thoughts about my children and how I react to them.  I am all-to-quick to anger, my voice rising and the heat pouring off of me.  I judge before I know the whole story with them, favoring the little ones most of the time.

I realized that I am not helping my children to rejoice.  I am good about that with my friends and coworkers, but not with the souls that should matter most of all to me.  My own little creations.

So I decided, once again, to try harder, to re-double my efforts with them and to show more compassion as I go.  In meditation on Chenrezig, the Buddha of Compassion, you would think I would begin to listen to the words I am saying.

I was sitting there in my mother's house and I was upset with something that my son had done, I suddenly was very aware of my mother watching me.  She had a look in her eyes that said a lot to me.  She was upset that I had handled myself badly again.  She was worried that I had scolded my son with out showing him loving kindness.  My mother has always been one of the most compassionate people I have ever know, and now I realized how my actions were hurting her as well as my son.  I saw myself in her eyes and I was not happy with the person she was seeing.

OK, so now I am actively listening.  Maybe this time I will start to get it right.  Thank you Mom, and Happy Mother's Day.