Is There a Compassionate Response to Suffering?

The problem is that even though we may want to be compassionate and perhaps very often are, it's not always easy to open to the suffering that is present. There are strong tendencies in the mind that keep us withdrawn or apathetic or indifferent to the suffering around us. That's the condition for compassion to arise. So just as an experiment, the next time you're in a situation of suffering and it could be right in this retreat, what's your first reaction? To the pain, to the difficult circumstance? Very often we can see our first tendency may be not to want to open to it. Let's try to block it out or not experience it. And then there are many situations