On Friday the 4th of January, I attended the celebratory funeral service of a truly "remarkable" man. An academic scholar who spoke 5 languages and who was awarded many accolades for his services both in the UK and abroad. At 81, he swam and windsurfed and indeed had the greatest enthusiasm and passion for life of anyone I have ever met (except for his wife). All of these things mentioned would be fantastic things to be remembered by. However, I will remember him for his: Compassion Humility Love for his family Interest in everyone's life Love of art and opera Acceptance of all beings Ability to encourage his children and grandchildren to be who they wanted to be Large gin and tonics and his passion for cooking We visited him in hospital a week before he died. Despite being very unwell, he was surrounded by his children and grandchildren and when one of them asked "what does namaste mean?", he knew the answer but was too unwell to articulate it. ...

It must be said that genuine compassion is not like pity or a feeling that others are somehow lower than you. Rather, with genuine compassion you view others as more important than yourself. Dalai lama

Our sorrow and wounds are only healed when we touch them with compassion. Buddha