While I strive to exist in a compassionate state, I am often “compassion challenged”. Purposeful cruelty, inhumanity, discrimination… trigger my “righteous indignation” and rock my compassion boat. Reflecting on cultural approaches helps me return to being compassionate.
REFLECT:
What does compassion mean in your spiritual tradition?
What does compassion mean to you?
The concept of compassion is found in all cultures. Here is a sampling of different cultural expressions:
One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts.
Yoruba Proverb – Nigeria
Not one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.
Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 13, Islam
Thy shalt love thy neighbor as thyself was the great principle of Torah.
Rabbi Akiva, Judaism
Buddha’s message was subtitled “a religion of compassion”.
Sutta Napata, The World’s Religions
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated.
Sutrakritanga 1.11.33, Jainism
Do not judge your neighbor until you walk two moons in his moccasins.
Cheyenne Proverb, Native American
Helping others is merit. Hurting others is sin.
Vyasa, Hinduism
Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that is the shortest way to benevolence.
Mencius VII. A-4. Confucianism
Compassion is most often associated with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, believed by Tibetan Buddhists to be the 14th reincarnated Bodhisattva of Compassion. He has stated, “Compassion is my religion”.
Believing religion is poison, Mao Ze-Dong resorted to genocide in Tibet to eradicate the Buddhist beliefs and traditions. He was responsible for the destruction of over 6,000 Tibetan monasteries and the torture and execution of up to 1.2 million Tibetans.Though Mao is gone, China continues to maintain a police state in Tibet. Religious practices are outlawed, and simply possessing a small picture of His Holiness leads to immediate and severe punishment.
After the 1950 Chinese invasion and the Dalai Lama’s unsuccessful attempts to bring a peaceful solution to the conflict, he escaped to India where he was granted asylum. In exile in India, rebuilding a Tibetan community and reestablishing religious organization and rituals, the Dalai Lama continually speaks out for compassion and peace. An authentic spiritual leader, he “walks his talk”. When he learned the Chinese had destroyed one of the last Tibetan monasteries and killed the monks there, he asked the monks in his enclave to pray for the Chinese.
About compassion, the Dalai Lama has said:
Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.
Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.
When we are motivated by compassion and wisdom, the results of our actions benefit everyone, not just our individual selves.
When we are able to recognize and forgive ignorant actions of the past, we gain strength to constructively solve the problems of the present.
Peace does not mean an absence of conflicts; differences will always be there. Peace means solving these differences through peaceful means; through dialogue, education, knowledge; and through humane ways.
The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of all kinds.
APPLY:
Choose your favorite quote about compassion, and place it where you read it several times a day.
Refer to the quote when you are faced with difficult situations.
The cross-cultural quotes are adapted from Table 1 on the universal value of compassion, from the book The Compassionate Community: Ten Values to Unite America, Jonathan Miller, MacMillan, 2006.
