只有慈悲具有疗效，因为人们身上所有的疾病都因为缺乏爱。所有人们身上的不适总是哪里跟爱有关；没有能力爱或是没有能力接受爱。他有困难分享自己，这样的痛苦制造出内在各式各样的复杂情节。

这些内在的伤痛会以许多方式浮现：有可能是身理上的疾病或心理上的疾病。但是根源来自人们因为缺乏爱而受苦。就像身体需要食物一样，灵魂需要爱。身体没有食物就无法存活，灵魂没有爱也无法活下去。事实上，如果没有爱，灵魂绝对不会诞生，一定如此。

你天真的以为你有灵魂，你相信你有灵魂，那是因为你恐惧死亡。但是除非你爱过，否则你根本不知道。只有当你有爱才会感受到你不是只有身体，不是只有意念。

那就是为什么我说慈悲可以疗愈。甚么是慈悲？慈悲是最纯粹的爱。性是最低形式的爱，慈悲是最高形式的爱。性爱中基本上是生理的连结，慈悲基本上是心灵的连结。在爱之中，慈悲与性两者混合在其中，身体与心灵两者混合在一起。爱是性朝向慈悲的中途。

你也可以称慈悲为祈祷或静心。能量的最高形式就是慈悲。「Compassion(慈悲)」这个字很美：这个字的一半是「passion(热情)」。热情被如此洗炼得不再是热情而变成了慈悲。

在性爱中，你利用对方，把对方降为工具，降为物体。那就是为什么你觉得在性爱关系中有罪恶感。那种罪恶感跟宗教的教导无关，那种罪恶感比宗教教条更深。在性爱关系中本来就会感到罪恶。有罪恶感是因为你把人降为物品使用，用后就丢掉。

那就是为什么在性爱中会感到某种束缚，因为你也被降为物品。当你变成了物品时，自由就不见了，因为唯有你是人的时候才有自由。越是个人就越自由，如果你越是个物品就越没有自由。你房间里的家具没有自由，如果你离开房间锁上门，几年之后才回来，家具依然安置在同样的位置上，它不会自己调整方向。它没有自由。但是如果你把一个人留在房间里，他不会一样，即便只是隔天或下一片刻，他不会是同一个样子。

老西拉赫立克(希腊哲学家)说：你无法踏进相同的河流两次。你无法与相同的人再次碰面。不可能遇到相同的人两次，因为人就像河流一样不停地流动。你绝对不会知道会发生甚么事情。未来是不可知的。有一件事，未来是确定的，石头会一直是石头，未来也是石头。它没有成长的潜能，无法改变也无法发展。人绝对不会保持不变；他可能掉回来，可能往前，可能下地狱或上天堂，但是绝对不会保持不变。他不断地以各种方式改变。

当你跟某人是性爱关系，就已经把这个人贬低成物品，同时也把自己贬低成物品，因为这是互相妥协：你允许我把你变成物品，我允许你把我变成物品。我允许你使用我，你允许我使用你。我们彼此利用对方，彼此成为物品。

那就是为什么…看看一对还没有定下来的恋人，依然浪漫，蜜月期还没结束，两个人的生命是如此跳动，随时可以爆开，随时准备好在未知中爆发。然后再看看结了婚的夫妻，你看到的是两个没生命的物品，两座墓地并坐帮助、强迫对方继续死寂。那是婚姻中持续不断的冲突。因为没有人真的想被贬低成物品！

性是能量的最低层形式，是宗教人士称它「神性」，科学家称它「X」。这个能量有可能变成爱。当它变成爱时，你会开始敬重对方。没错，偶而你使用对方，但是你心存感激，你绝对不会对物品道谢。当你爱上一个女人而跟她做爱，你会说：谢谢。

当你跟妻子做爱，你会说谢谢吗？不会，你视为理所当然。你的太太曾经对你说谢谢吗？或许多年前，当你们还没决定结婚，还在尝试，讨好引诱对方时或许说过。但是一旦你们定下来之后，她有对你表达过任何感谢吗？你为她做了这么多，她为你做了这么多，你们两个人为彼此而生活，然而感谢消失了。

爱，有感谢，有深度的感恩。你知道对方不是物品，你知道对方有他的尊严、人格、灵魂与个体性。爱使你给与对方全然的自由。当然，这是一个施与受的关系…但是这里面有敬重。

性，是施与受却没有敬重的关系。至于慈悲，你只是给予。你找不到有任何要求回馈的想法，你只是分享。并非一去不回！而是千万倍的回馈。这是本然的结果，不需强求。

在爱的关系中，当你给予时，内心深处你一直期待应该要有回馈。如果没有，你会感到抱怨。你或许不说，但是它会以一千零一种方式干扰你，例如你会一直抱怨自己感到被欺骗。爱似乎成了微妙的交易。

在慈悲中，你只是单纯的给予。在爱之中，你感激是因为别人给与你。在慈悲中，你感激是因为别人从你身上获得，你感恩是因为别人没有拒绝你的给予。你已经具备了给予的能量，你已经拥有许多花朵要分享，而且对方也允许接纳。你为对方的接纳心存感谢。

慈悲是爱的最高形式。它带来更多的回馈；我说千万倍。但那不是重点，你不是为回馈而做。即便没有回馈也不会有抱怨。如果有你会很惊讶！感到不可思议。如果没有也没问题。你决不会对别人分享你的心而要求任何条件。你只是单纯因为你拥有而分享；你拥有太多，所以如果不大量分享那会变成你的负担。就像是携带着过多水气的云必须降下雨一样。下次当下雨的时候静静地看，你会听到；当云朵洒完雨水而大地吸收雨水时，你总会听到云朵对大地说：谢谢。大地帮助云朵卸下负担。

当一朵花绽开，它必须分享在风中分享它的芬芳。本来就是如此！那不是买卖，不是交易，那是天性！花朵充满了芬芳，该怎么办呢？如果这朵花紧握住自己的芬芳，它一定会非常紧绷，极度痛苦。生命中最苦闷的时候就是当你无法表达、无法沟通、无法分享。最可怜的人就是那些无事可分享，或是有东西可分享却失去分享的能力与艺术，这种人最可怜。

充满性欲的人是非常贫乏的，充满爱的人相较起来就丰富多了。慈悲的人最富有，是世界的顶端。他没有限制，没有界限。他单纯地分享然后继续他的道路。他甚至不会等着你道谢。他以极大的爱分享他的能量。这就是我说的治疗。

佛陀过去经常对他的门徒说，每一个静心之后要立刻分享慈悲，因为当你在静心中爱会成长，心中开始充满。每一次静心之后，要对整个世界慈悲好让你分享你的爱，把你的能量释放出来，好让别人能够使用那些能量。

我也要这么对你说：每一次静心之后，庆祝之中，都带着慈悲。就只是感觉你的能量必须出去以任何方式帮助需要的人们。就是释放它！你会卸下重担，你会感到非常放松与平静。而你释放掉的能量会有许多帮助。永远带着慈悲结束你的静心。

还有，慈悲是无条件的。你不可能只对你友善的人慈悲，只对跟你有连结的人慈悲。慈悲涵盖一切…它的本质就是涵盖一切。所以，如果你对邻居无法感到慈悲，那就别静心，因为那无关乎特定的人。那跟你的内在状态有关。要慈悲！无条件的，没有特别指定的。如此一来你会变成这个苦难世界的一股治疗力量。 

Yes,only compassion is therapeutic – because all that is ill in man is because oflack of love. All that is wrong with man is somewhere associated with love. Hehas not been able to love, or he has not been able to receive love. He has notbeen able to share his being. That’s the misery. That creates all sorts ofcomplexes inside.

Thosewounds inside can surface in many ways: they can become physical illness, theycan become mental illness – but deep down man suffers from lack of love. Justas food is needed for the body, love is needed for the soul. The body cannotsurvive without food, and the soul cannot survive without love. In fact,without love the soul is never born – there is no question of its survival.

You simply think that you have a soul; you believe that you have a soul because ofyour fear of death. But you have not known unless you have loved. Only in lovedoes one come to feel that one is more than the body, more than the mind.

That’s why I say compassion is therapeutic. What is compassion? Compassion is the purest form of love. Sex is the lowest form of love, compassion the highest form of love. In sex the contact is basically physical; in compassion the contact is basically spiritual. In love, compassion and sex are both mixed, the physical and the spiritual are both mixed. Love is midway between sex and compassion.

You can also call compassion prayer. You can also call compassion meditation. The highest form of energy is compassion. The word compassion is beautiful: half of it is passion – somehow passion has become so refined that it is no longer like passion. It has become compassion.

In sex, you use the other, you reduce the other to a means, you reduce the other to a thing. That’s why in a sexual relationship you feel guilty. That guilt has nothing to do with religious teachings; that guilt is deeper than religious teachings. In a sexual relationship as such you feel guilty. You feel guilty because you are reducing a human being to a thing, to a commodity to be used and thrown away.

That’s why in sex you also feel a sort of bondage; you are also being reduced to a thing. And when you are a thing your freedom disappears, because your freedom exists only when you are a person. The more you are a person, the more free; the more you are a thing, the less free. The furniture in your room is not free. If you leave the room locked and you come after many years, the furniture will be in the same place, in the same way; it will not arrange itself in a new way. It has no freedom. But if you leave a man in the room, you will not find him the same – not even the next day, not even the next moment. You cannot find the same man again.

Old Heraclitus says: You cannot step in the same river twice. You cannot come across the same man again. It is impossible to meet the same man twice, because man is a river, continuously flowing. You never know what is going to happen. The future remains open. For a thing, future is closed. A rock will remain a rock, will remain a rock. It has no potentiality for growth. It cannot change, it cannot evolve. A man never remains the same. May fall back, may go ahead; may go into hell or into heaven but he never remains the same. Goes on moving, this way or that.

When you have a sexual relationship with somebody, you have reduced that somebody to a thing. And in reducing him you have reduced yourself also to a thing, because it is a mutual compromise that “I allow you to reduce me to a thing, you allow me to reduce you to a thing. I allow you to use me, you allow me to use you. We use each other. We both have become things.”

That’s why...watch two lovers: when they have not yet settled. the romance is still alive, the honeymoon has not ended and you will see two persons throbbing with life, ready to explode – ready to explode the unknown. And then watch a married couple, the husband and the wife, and you will see two dead things, two graveyards, side by side – helping each other to remain dead, forcing each other to remain dead. That is the constant conflict of the marriage. Nobody wants to be reduced to a thing!

Sex is the lowest form of that energy “X.” If you are religious, call it “God”; if you are scientific, call it “X.” This energy, X, can become love. When it becomes love, then you start respecting the other person. Yes. sometimes you use the other person, but you feel thankful for it. You never say thank-you to a thing. When you are in love with a woman and you make love to her, you say thank-you.

When you make love to your wife, have you ever said thank-you? No, you take it for granted. Has your wife said thank-you to you ever? Maybe, many years before, you can remember some time when you were just undecided, were just trying, courting, seducing each other – maybe. But once you were settled, has she said thank-you to you for anything? You have been doing so many things for her, she has been doing so many things for you, you are both living for each other but gratitude has disappeared.

In love, there is gratitude, there is a deep gratefulness. You know that the other is not a thing. You know that the other has a grandeur, a personality, a soul, an individuality. In love you give total freedom to the other. Of course, you give and you take; it is a give-and-take relationship...but with respect.

In sex,it is a give-and-take relationship with no respect. In compassion, you simply give. There is no idea anywhere in your mind to get anything back; you simply share. Not that nothing comes! millionfold it is returned, but that is just by the way, just a natural consequence. There is no hankering for it.

In love, if you give something, deep down you go on expecting that it should be returned. If it is not returned, you feel complaining. You may not say so, but in a thousand and one ways it can be inferred that you are grumbling, that you are feeling that you have been cheated. Love seems to be a subtle bargain.

In compassion you simply give. In love, you are thankful because the other has given something to you. In compassion, you are thankful because the other has taken something from you; you are thankful because the other has not rejected you. You had come with energy to give, you had come with many flowers to share, and the other allowed you, the other was receptive. You are thankful because the other was receptive.

Compassion is the highest form of love. Much comes back – a millionfold, I say – but that is not the point, you don’t hanker for it. If it is not coming there is no complaint about it. If it is coming you are simply surprised! If it is coming, it is unbelievable. If it is not coming there is no problem – you had never given your heart to somebody for any bargain. You simply shower because you have. You have so much that if you don’t shower you will become burdened. Just like a cloud full of rainwater has to shower. And next time when a cloud is showering watch silently, and you will always hear, when the cloud has showered and the earth has absorbed, you will always hear the cloud saying to the earth “Thank-you.” The earth helped the cloud to unburden.

When a flower has bloomed, it has to share its fragrance to the winds. It is natural! It is not a bargain, it is not a business; it is simply natural! The flower is full of fragrance – what to do? If the flower keeps the fragrance to itself then the flower will feel very, very tense, in deep anguish. The greatest anguish in life is when you cannot express, when you cannot communicate, when you cannot share. The poorest man is he who has nothing to share, or who has something to share but has lost the capacity, the art, of how to share it; then a man is poor.

The sexual man is very poor. The loving man is richer comparatively. The man of compassion is the richest; he is at the top of the world. He has no confinement, no limitation. He simply gives and goes on his way. He does not even wait for you to say a thank-you. With tremendous love he shares his energy. This is what I call therapeutic.

Buddha used to say to his disciples, “After each meditation, be compassionate – immediately – because when you meditate, love grows, the heart becomes full. After each meditation, feel compassion for the whole world so that you share your love and you release the energy into the atmosphere and that energy can be used by others.”

I would also like to say that to you: After each meditation, when you are celebrating, have compassion. Just feel that your energy should go and help people in whatsoever ways they need it. Just release it! You will be unburdened, you will feel very relaxed, you will feel very calm and quiet, and the vibrations that you have released will help many. End your meditations always with compassion.

And compassion is unconditional. You cannot have compassion only for those who are friendly towards you, only for those who are related to you. Compassion is all-inclusive...intrinsically all-inclusive. So if you cannot feel compassion for your neighbor, then forget all about meditation, because it has nothing to do with somebody in particular. It has something to do with your inner state. Be compassion! unconditionally, undirected, unaddressed. Then you become a healing force into this world of misery.

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