"Once you have adopted such an attitude of infinite interconnectedness, you naturally want to liberate not just yourself but all beings from suffering. The Buddha calls this 'the conception of the spirit of enlightenment.' It is the soul of the Bodhisattva, the person who dedicates him-or herself to helping all beings achieve total happiness. When you open to the inevitability of your infinite interconnectedness with other sensitive beings, you develop compassion. You learn to feel empathy for them, to love them, to want their happiness. You want to keep them from suffering, and you do so just as if they were a part of you. You don't think your behavior makes you special. You don't congratulate yourself for helping others, just as you won't congratulate yourself for healing your own leg when you hurt it. It is natural for you to love your leg because it is one with you, and so it is natural for you to love others. You would certainly never harm another being. As the great Buddhist adapt Shantideva (8th century Indian sage) wrote, 'How wonderful it would be when all beings experience each other as limbs on the one body of life!'" Robert Thurman, professor, Columbia, in his book, Infinite Life