TempO,
I have found myself to become kind and compassionate. Perhaps that it because I've faced my own mortality since 1980 when I had kidney failure and have had a lot of time to downscale my expectations and to realize that the material things are unimportant, well kind of unimportant (grin). When you can lose all your toys and other material things at any time you tend to focus yourself and obtain meaning elsewhere.

But I saw another post by you somewhere about having had a terrible ordeal from meditative practice before gaining something from the ills it brought you. I have never heard this about meditation and would like to hear more.

I've read a good book on coping with the stress caused my chronic illness. I thing its called 'Full Catastrophy Living' by John Kabot-Zinn. I don't have the book handy and I'm probably a bit off on th title. But I've read it twice. It is written by the md who heads the stress reduction clinic at the University of Mass. hospital in Boston, not by the usual pop psychologist you see on the self-help shelves. It relies heavily on meditation, but yoga, psychology and other things play a big part as well. Amazon.com probably sells used copies.

So can you tell me more about your meditative ordeal and why you began your search in the beginning?

Bernie