| Some people are able to address people who appear lonely, truly worrying
about them and say, "You seem to be feeling lonely." Those who have not experienced real loneliness themselves cannot do that. There are people who can be concerned for those in hunger from the bottom of heart and say, "You must be very hungry." One can never do this unless one has experienced hunger oneself. The same can be said for other kinds of misfortune, such as sickness, debt, poverty, children's misdeeds, lost love, frustration, sadness, sleeplessness, unemployment or business failures. Unless one has experienced pain oneself, one can never appreciate the pain in the hearts of others. People who have never suffered themselves cannot understand the suffering of others. If we truly understand the pain of another, then, naturally, we feel compelled to help that person. The more deeply we feel the pain of others, the more strongly we cannot but pray to the gods to relieve them of their suffering by any available means. It may be that only a person who is poor can really help others suffering from poverty. Living a life of abundance, on the other hand, people tend to become negligent and lazy. How many people have come to realize that a life of prosperity tends to make people cold-hearted and weaken human relationships? |