How To Deal With All The World’s Suffering

How do we stay open to the world’s suffering without being consumed by it?

Sadhviji offers a powerful reflection on how to keep our hearts open—to the horror and the hope, the cruelty and the compassion, the despair and the divine. From war in the Middle East and Ukraine to the suffering of animals and the pollution of our rivers, atrocities fill the headlines. But they don’t tell the whole story.

For every act of violence, there is also kindness. For every woman abused, another is empowered. For every forest cut down, someone plants a seed.

We are not here to ignore suffering—but we are also not here to lose ourselves in rage or despair. Our hearts must break open, not apart. Our eyes must widen, not narrow. Only from that space of expanded awareness can we truly help.

Let’s act—but let’s act from love, not hatred. Let’s care—but without collapsing. We cannot drink the whole river, but we can quench one person’s thirst.