Prayer is the process by which one continually empties out what one thinks one knows and surrenders to the mystery in the moment ... Prayer is an opening on your part to receive the gifts of God, an opening to God's unconditional love for you, an opening to God's unconditional acceptance of you as you are. When you enter the temple of prayer, you are blessed beyond measure. For, in entering, you surrender, and in surrendering, you are washed clean of all judgments you make about yourself or others.
Compassion is defined in Buddhist teaching as the trembling or quivering of the heart in response to seeing pain or suffering. Alone with love and altruism, compassion can be seen as warm-heartedness replacing cynicism, beneficence taking the place of indifference, caring supplanting aloofness. The Dalai Lama, whose life has not been easy, has said, "The reason I am pretty happy is because of the force of compassion. Compassion makes me feel at one with everyone."