Compassion

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For other uses, see Compassion (disambiguation).

A personification of compassion as represented by a statue in The American Adventure in the World Showcase pavilion of Walt Disney World's Epcot.

Compassion is a profound and positive human emotion prompted by the pain of others. More vigorous than empathy, the feeling commonly gives rise to an active desire to alleviate another's suffering. It is often, though not inevitably, the key component in what manifests in the social context as altruism. In ethical terms, the various expressions down the ages of the so-called Golden Rule embody by implication the principle of compassion: Do to others as you would have done to you. Ranked a great virtue in numerous philosophies, compassion is considered in all the major religious traditions as among the greatest of virtues.

1 Religious and spiritual views on compassion
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Religious and spiritual views on compassion

[edit] The Buddhist tradition

Main article: Karuṇā

"Compassion is that which makes the heart of the good move at the pain of others. It crushes and destroys the pain of others; thus, it is called compassion. It is called compassion because it shelters and embraces the distressed." - The Buddha

At the core of Buddhism is the idea that "unenlightened life is suffering" (the first of Four Noble Truths). Thus from statement the fundamental basis of Buddhism is the concept of compassion.

In the words of Dalai Lama: "Compassion makes one see the picture clearly; when emotions overtake us, the lack of seeing clearly clouds our perception of reality and hence the cause of many misunderstandings leading to quarrels (even wars)."^{[citation needed]}

American Buddhist monk Bhikkhu Bodhi wrote: “Compassion supplies the complement to loving-kindness. Whereas loving-kindness has the characteristic of wishing for the happiness and welfare of others, compassion has the characteristic of wishing that others be free from suffering, a wish to be extended without limits to all living beings. Like metta, compassion arises by entering into the subjectivity of others, by sharing their interiority in a deep and total way. It springs up by considering that all beings, like ourselves, wish to be free from suffering, yet despite their wishes continue to be harassed by pain, fear, sorrow, and other forms of dukkha.

To increase the breadth and intensity of compassion it is helpful to contemplate the various sufferings to which living beings are susceptible. A useful guideline to this extension is provided by the Buddha’s first noble truth, with its enumeration of the different aspects of dukkha (suffering). One contemplates beings as subject to old age, then as subject to sickness, then to death, then to sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair, and so forth.”^[1]

[edit] The Jain tradition

Main article: Karuna

Karuṇā (originally a Pali word; also regarded as a Sanskrit word) is the Jainist concept of love. In Tibetan, it is "snying-rje". It is also translated as "compassion," a key concept of Mahayana Buddhism (see Bodhisattva and Avalokitesvara). As mercy, it is the special kindness shown to those who suffer. It is considered the indispensable complement to enlightened wisdom or Prajña. Compassion is important in all schools of Buddhism.

Karuna is commonly summed up as wisdom tempered with compassion. Yet more commonly, especially in Mahāyāna Buddhism, karuna is one of the two qualities, along with wisdom (prajña), to be cultivated on the bodhisattva path.

In Theravāda Buddhism, karuna represents one of the four Brahmavihāras^[2], along with (Pali): metta, mudita, and upekkha. Karuna is aptly described as compassion; the hope that a person's sufferings will diminish; compassion is the "wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering."^[3]

[edit] The Hindu traditions

The prayers of Vasudeva Datta, a Vaishnava holy man (sadhu) from the 1500s, exemplify compassion within Gaudiya Vaishnavism and Hinduism. He prayed to his Lord (Krishna) as follows:

"My dear Lord, You incarnate just to deliver all conditioned souls. I now have one petition, which I wish You would accept. My Lord, You are certainly able to do whatever You like, and You are indeed merciful. If You so desire, You can very easily do whatever You want. My Lord, my heart breaks to see the sufferings of all the conditioned souls; therefore I request You to transfer the karma of their sinful lives upon my head. My dear Lord, let me suffer perpetually in a hellish condition, accepting all the sinful reactions of all living entities. Please finish their diseased material life [through awarding them liberation from suffering]." (from the Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya-lila, Chapter 15)

[edit] The Jewish tradition

In the Jewish tradition God is the Compassionate and is invoked as the Father of Compassion: hence Raḥmana or Compassionate becomes the usual designation for His revealed word. (Compare, below, the frequent use of raḥman in the Quran).^[4]

Sorrow and pity for one in distress, creating a desire to relieve, is a feeling ascribed alike to man and God: in Biblical Hebrew, ("riḥam," from "reḥem," the mother, womb), "to pity" or "to show mercy" in view of the sufferer's helplessness, hence also "to forgive" (Hab. iii. 2); , "to forbear" (Ex. ii. 6; I Sam. xv. 3; Jer. xv. 15, xxi. 7.) The Rabbis speak of the "thirteen attributes of compassion." The Biblical conception of compassion is the feeling of the parent for the child. Hence the prophet's appeal in confirmation of his trust in God invokes the feeling of a mother for her offspring (Isa. xlix. 15). ^[5]

Lack of compassion, by contrast, marks a people as cruel (Jer. vi. 23). The repeated injunctions of the Law and the Prophets that the widow, the orphan and the stranger should be protected show how deeply, it is argued, the feeling of compassion was rooted in the hearts of the righteous in ancient Israel.^[6]

A classic articulation of the Golden Rule (see above) came from the first century Rabbi Hillel the Elder. Renowned within Judaism as a sage and a scholar, he is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud and, as such, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. Asked for a summary of the Jewish religion in the most concise terms, Hillel replied (reputedly while standing on one leg): "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah. The rest is the explanation; go and learn." ^[7]

Post 9/11, the words of Rabbi Hillel are frequently quoted in public lectures and interviews around the world by the prominent writer on comparative religion Karen Armstrong.

[edit] The Christian tradition

The example of Christ has also inspired Christians throughout history to fund hospitals and other such institutions. It is also Christ's example that challenges Christians to forsake their own desires and act compassionately towards others, especially, but not exclusively, towards those in some type of distress or need. This is typified in Jesus' statement from the sermon on the mount:

"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."

Compassion can also be kindness towards a stranger that is unexpected in most situations. Compassion can be linked to generosity, empathy, sympathy, and mercy. The life of Christ reflects for Christians the very essence of the meaning of compassion. It has inspired many Christians throughout the centuries to care for the lame, deformed, broken-hearted, sick, dying and those who are in need. Christian compassion extends to all, even to placing a primacy on loving one's own enemies.

In the Bible, 2 Corinthians also talks about God as "the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort" (1.3). Hebrews 4:15 also talks about Christ as One who completely understands: who is able to sympathize, and have compassion in the fullest sense of the word. It says "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin."

[edit] Islam

In the Muslim tradition, foremost among God's attributes are mercy and compassion or, in the canonical language of Arabic Rahman and Rahim. Each of the 114 chapters of the Quran, with one exception, begins with the verse, "In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate". ^[8]

The Arabic for compassion is rahmah. As a cultural influence, its roots abound in the Koran. A good muslim is to commence each day, each prayer and each significant action by invoking God the Merciful and Compassionate, i.e. by reciting Bi Ism-i-Allah al-Rahman al-Rahim.

The Muslim scriptures urge compassion towards captives as well as to widows, orphans and the poor. Traditionally, Zakat, a toll tax to help the poor and needy, was obligatory upon all muslims (9:60). One of the practical purposes of fasting or sawm during the month of Ramadan is to help one empathize with the hunger pangs of those less fortunate, to enhance sensitivity to the suffering of others and develop compassion for the poor and destitute. ^[9]

The Prophet is referred to by the Quran as the Mercy of the World (21:107); and one of the sayings of the Prophet informs the faithful that, "God is more loving and kinder than a mother to her dear child." ^[10]