A specific form of meditation that bears the fruit of neuroplasticity is mindfulness, a critical ingredient when cultivating compassion.  To be mindful is to approach life with intentionality and hospitable attention to the richness and poverty, profundity and simplicity, pain and joy of our life as it blossoms right now, in this sacred moment.  The cultivation of mindfulness entails being aware of and attentive to the textured quality of human experience: the bodily sensations, states of mind, or the flow of thoughts and emotions as they surface in one’s consciousness with an attitude of nonjudgment and acceptance, of letting things be as they are.  It does not shy away from the reality of human suffering but acknowledges it with the confidence that it can be alleviated and transformed.