Recently a friend sent me a quote from the Dalai Lama in which he emphasized how your beliefs are to support your compassion, not the other way around. That simple truth made me start thinking about how often we as humans are led around by our beliefs, whether they are Buddhism, Christianity, Metaphysics, or even Atheism. And in so doing we forget that we are the gift of compassionate love.

To hide who you are under a belief system means you can share compassion only to the boundaries of your beliefs. At that boundary you start bumping into other’s beliefs that are so different from yours that you discount the person as their beliefs. You forget who you are and thus forget who they are. Your very essence is compassionate love. AND their very essence is compassionate love, even if they are hiding it underneath a set of beliefs.

When I moved from the Midwest to the South, my belief system about compassionate love had to receive a few bumps before it got knocked down enough to let the real me step forward. And then when I moved again, this time further north, my belief system took another hit. These moves were emotionally upsetting but extremely valuable. Each move knocked down more of my belief system around how to be a compassionate person and freed me to remember that my essence is, and always has been, compassionate love.

When you lead with your essence, you will be able to wrap your energetic arms around everyone–even those who believe and live an entirely different lifestyle from yours. You don’t have to give up your belief system to be you, even though your beliefs will probably become broader as the real you is uncovered. All you will need to give up will be the beliefs that deny expression of your true essence.