Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no, it is an ever fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring barque,
Whose worth's unknown although his height be taken.

Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Shakespeare. Sonnet 116

Sariputra,
Form is no different from empty
Empty no different from form
Form is just empty
Empty just form
Sensation, perception, volition and consciousness
Are also like this

Sariputra, this is the emptiness of all dharmas
They neither arise nor cease
Are neither defiled nor pure
Neither increase nor decrease

For this reason within emptiness there is no form
No sensation, perception, volition or consciousness
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body or mind
No sight, sound, scent, taste, touch or thought
No seeing,…even no thinking
No ignorance nor end of ignorance,…even
No aging and death, nor end of aging and death
No suffering, origin, cessation or path
No wisdom and no attainment

Because nothing is attained
Bodhisattvas maintain prajnaparamita
Then their heart is without hinderance
And since without hinderance, without fear
Escaping upside-down, dream like thinking
And completely realizing nirvana
All buddhas of all times maintain prajnaparamita
Thus attaining anuttara-samyak-sambodhi
Hence know, prajnaparamita is
The all-powerful mantra
The great enlightening mantra
The unexcelled mantra
The unequaled mantra
Abel to dispel all suffering
This is true, not false
Therefore proclaim the prajnaparamita mantra
Recite the mantra thus
Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha

As stars, a fault of vision, a lamp,
A mock show, dew drops, or a bubble,
A dream, a lightning flash, or a cloud,
So should one view what is conditioned.

Stars cannot be grasped. Things seen with a faulty vision do not really exist. Oil lamps only burn as long as they have fuel. A mock show is a magical illusion; it is not as it seems. Dew drops evaporate quickly in the heat of the sun. Bubbles are short lived and have no real substance to them. Dreams are not real, even though they may seem so at the time. Lightning is short lived and quickly over. Clouds are always changing shape. By realising the transient nature of things it is easier to detach from them and to attain Nirvana.

"Subhūti, what do you think? If there were a person who was able to take enough of the seven jewels to fill all the worlds of the three galaxies, and gave them away for charity, would not, based on these causes and conditions, this person's merit be great?"

"Yes, World Honored One, based on these causes and conditions this person's merit would be extremely great."

"Subhūti, if this merit were real, the Tathāgata would not say that there was attainment of great merit. It is because this merit is non-existent that the Tathāgata says that the merit is great."

There is actually no such thing as ideal practice of compassion. Instead, eachtime we confront a situation, we must remember compassion and strive to act accordingly. Thus does compassion ripen and mature. The Japanese Zen master Shido Munan Zenji compares it to learning to read:

"The same is true for compassion. When we practice compassion, it is admixed with consciousness of that compassion. When compassion matures there is no thought of compassion. When we practice compassion unselfconsciously, that is Buddha." Dharma Talks of Shido Munan Zenji

And extending compassion to others will always be the reverse side of reflecting on our own proud ways. For I cannot remain proud and still become a true friend. Lowering myself while never forgetting the standpoint of the other person: such daily training is the foundation for practicing the Buddhism preached by the patriarchs. By continuing that practice, not harming others but being truly the friend of all people, I gain the joy of life.

I am the friend of all people, the companion of all people. I sympathize with all living beings. I cultivate a compassionate mind and rejoice in not harming living creatures."
Thera Gatha, 648