Eat, Drink, and Be Merry

I'm on a theater tour in London, and seeing a lot of plays. In Love's Labour's Lost, the young woman tells her young man that she will marry him--after he spends a year doing hospice work with the dying. She prescribes this in order to soften his sharp tongue.

The Buddha recommends that we all reflect on dying every day.
While this contemplation may sound distasteful, it's a fast track to developing compassion for ourselves and our fellow human beings.

We can develop compassion for those who believe in the philosophy of "Eat, drink, and be merry"--in other words, consume as much as possible. Buy. Buy. Buy. These souls are trying desperately to fill up the emptiness of "for tomorrow we die."

Compassion can look death in the eye.