Developing compassion

How is it possible to achieve this? For this mental continuum to become omniscient mind? You can figure this out even from this simple example: When you memorize anything, in the beginning your mind is completely ignorant. In the very beginning, you do not even know the alphabet; but with the help of a teacher and by applying effort, you gradually begin to learn. As you continue, you learn more and more. It is the nature of the mind that understanding can be developed. The mind has the power to understand gross phenomena, and even subtle existence if you attempt to do this correctly.

You have compassion for some beings now, even though you do not have fully developed compassion, which means compassion towards every living being. However, you can develop your present small compassion for these beings so that it becomes greater and greater. You can increase your compassion for these beings. By understanding the teachings and practicing meditation, you can also generate compassion for the other beings for whom you do not feel compassion at the moment. In this way compassion can be developed.

With the compassion you already have for others, with your present understanding of their wishes and the methods to fulfill them, you have some capacity to help others. Even at this present time, with this human body, with the understanding and compassion that you have, you have some power to help others. As your understanding of and compassion for all living beings develop through actualizing the remedy of the path within your mind, your obscuration will gradually become less and less, and you will gain more and more understanding. When this process is completed, you will have complete and perfect power to guide other beings.

The ultimate meaning of life by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

You do not do meditation courses and spiritual practice to have a healthy body, and not even to have temporary peace of mind; you do spiritual practice to have everlasting mind-peace, with ultimate liberation from mental afflictions, or disturbing thoughts. At this time you have a precious human body. Using this to obtain even the ultimate happiness of everlasting liberation from all problems and their causes—disturbing thoughts and action-result, or karma—is still not the ultimate purpose of your having this precious human body. The real purpose of taking this precious human body at this time is to avoid giving harm to other sentient beings; and on the basis of that, to benefit all other sentient beings, each of whom wants happiness and does not want suffering.

Having this pure attitude of wishing to avoid harm to others in the very depths of your heart, you then act to benefit them without discrimination. You do not recognize some beings, such as relatives and friends, as close and help them, but others as enemies and not help them—or even harm them. Rather than these discriminating thoughts, you have a pure attitude of loving kindness, thinking to benefit all sentient beings equaling the extent of infinite space. With the attitude of loving kindness and compassion towards all living beings, you should also act to benefit them equally. This is the main purpose for which we have taken this precious human body. This is the ultimate meaning of life.