Tough Compassion

 I am reflecting on how the compassionate voice sometimes seems harsh when a person who receives it is not experienced enough to appreciate it. Certain forms of compassion might take the form of harsh or critical words to wake up the mind, such as exhortations to take on bigger challenges than what one is used to. "Compassion" might take the form of harshness, simply because a person has not yet developed the experience to handle it or make good use of what it exhorts us to do. In those moments, it's best to see that compassion as a kind of seed planted in the mind, which blooms at a later time. Rather than trying to resist or battle difficult or harsh voices, it is helpful to see those voices as part of a deepening of the soul.
    Harshness doesn't need to include violence, and I think I need to qualify the point that compassion can "awaken" through harsh means. I am not condoning violence as a "compassionate" act, but I suggest that compassion might challenge a person's sense of boundaries or comfort zones. It is similar to any kind of pain that one might experience in meditation: I don't necessarily like it, but allowing space or room for it to grow within me might allow me to deepen my appreciation of things that don't "sit well" with me in general (to use a pun). In other words: just the idea of allowing unpleasant information or thoughts might broaden a person's perspective on it and increase their tolerance of other kinds of frustrations as well.