Dark Side Of Empathy

Based on the passage by Michael Ventura, here is my reflection:
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Empathy is a wonderful quality we have as human beings. To cultivate empathy for us and someone we need to be unconditional, non judgemental, open and receptive. There are two types of empathy: empathy for oneself and empathy for others in relationships. Empathy for others will not be understood and practiced without cultivating self-empathy. Empathy is a building bridge with others in our life. When I feel empathy for someone, I need to be aware of my own tendency to judge the other person. If I am judgemental of the other person's feelings then the bridge of relationships gets weaker and may eventually break down. If we want to rebuild our relationships, we need to be open-minded and open-hearted to rebuild the relationships. It requires a lot of courage and trust.
I have found that building relationships with others is not that difficult but maintaining and enriching the relationships is difficult. It requires a lot of courage, willingness, compassion, open mindedness and a non judgemental stance for building and sustaining such relationships. It requires a lot of patience, compassion and perseverance. Personally I will follow that path if and when such relationships are significant in my life. I would prefer to follow this path rather than quitting it. Sadly the percentage of divorces are increasing in our country. We need to accept the fact and use our resources to work on this problem which affects all of us. Only complaining about such a problem and doing nothing about it is counter productive and foolish. May we cultivate courage and compassion to build bridges of empathy, kindness and compassion! I have found daily practice of Mindfulness Meditation very helpful for cultivating empathic relationships in my life.

Namaste!