When you show your pain to the Buddha within, you are helped to generate the energy of compassion. Sitting and looking deeply reveals that not only do you suffer, but the person you want to punish or consider your enemy suffers as well. Embracing yourself and your so-called enemy with understanding and compassion stops the cycle of trying to punish each other. Everyone is a Buddha-to-be, and a wise course of action includes and embraces both sides, transforming enemies into friends.

True giving, or dāna pāramitā, is based on understanding and compassion without expecting anything in return or using political maneuvering. It can be the offering of food, medicine, comforting words, or a path. Practicing the mindfulness trainings, or śīla pāramitā, such as the Fifth Mindfulness Training on mindful consumption, is also an act of giving that protects the body, consciousness, society, and the Earth.

Just as an orange or a log of wood stores sunshine during the summer to provide warmth in the cold winter, we must live mindfully to store the energy of understanding and compassion. During difficult times, such as the Vietnam War or being in a re-education camp, having this stored energy prevents us from giving in to despair. By absorbing and storing this sunshine of understanding and compassion in our daily lives, we become a strong refuge for ourselves and others.