cow lickCompassion is a quality we admire in people.  We have always admired those who are loving and caring towards other human beings,  however a new trend is emerging, an admiration for people who are kind to animals.  Youtube is full of animal welfare stories.  Stories where people have freed animals that have been abused, or painstakingly cared for a mistreated animal until it recovers and can be set free or placed into a loving home.  Thanks to these wonderful people we have also become aware of the cruelty within the meat industry and the live export trade, stories which are making news headlines on a regular basis.

This compassion we have for our silent friends is changing people’s lifestyles with vegetarianism growing at a rapid rate.  This trend is especially shown in children with 1 in 200 American kids claiming to be vegetarian.   Let’s face it, most kids love animals and when they find out where their food is coming from, they can’t bear the thought of causing suffering and veggies take on  whole new meaning.

Compassion is actually a quality inherent to the soul, so it is natural that we feel compassion towards other living entities. However that compassion will go deeper and deeper if we come to understand who we are, how we fit into this jigsaw puzzle of life and how we can actually help our brothers and sisters in all forms of life.  Mantra meditation will increase our spiritual awareness and allow us to feel deep inner compassion, compassion of the soul.