~ Reflection on Compassion ~
Compassion arises from understanding our connectedness with others.
When we appreciate that we are all part of the web of life and that we share so much, compassion appears naturally. It is also a quality that can be cultivated.
When we appreciate that we are all part of the web of life and that we share so much, compassion appears naturally. It is also a quality that can be cultivated.
To cultivate compassion, all we need to do is to be aware of someone's pain and suffering. If we don’t notice the suffering of a homeless person, an abused child or a caged animal, we can’t feel compassion for them. You might pause right now and bring to mind someone or something who is in pain or suffering. Imagining them in your heart/mind. Sensing into their distress, their discomfort, their anguish.
The next step is opening your heart to them. Being willing to experience their pain as your own. Holding their suffering in the vastness of your heart. If this feels scary, you might reflect that you have suffered too, just like this person or animal. The circumstances may be very different, but the feelings are the same. They are suffering just as you have suffered. And you suffer just as they suffer.
So feeling compassion means that we must be willing to get to know the places that hurt in our own hearts – what makes us afraid, sad or upset. Then we enter into that space with others and share their feelings. In this way, compassion is always a relationship between equals.
When we enter this shared space, the desire to alleviate their suffering arises naturally. We want to relief their distress, just as we want to relieve our own. Because we appreciate our deep connectedness with others, compassion appears spontaneously and without any effort.
Then we act on our desire. A smile, a hug, a kind word, or just being fully present with another are all acts of compassion and care. As Mother Theresa said: “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”