The mind is the instrument, the flywheel, and the thickest comrade of man. Through it, one can ruin oneself or save oneself. Regulated and controlled, channeled properly it can liberate; wayward and let loose, it can entangle and bind fast.
An ignorant man committing evil deeds does not realise the consequences. The imprudent man is consumed by his own deeds, like one burnt by fire.
In its function, the power to punish is not essentially different from that of curing or educating.
Human life is full off the play of samskaras, tendencies developed by repeated actions.
If we only practice compassion at the mind level, we run a great risk of our compassion being just talk. As we know, talk is cheap. To develop true compassion we have to put our money where our mouth is.
