Here is a (slightly adapted) snippet from my upcoming book -- on the subject of compassion.
Compassion is the active desire to alleviate another’s suffering. It comes from the heart energy. The etymology of "compassion" is Latin/Greek, meaning ‘co-suffering’ and is related to the word patient (one who suffers).
Compassion or karuna is at the transcendental and experiential heart of the Buddha's teachings. He said that
“the cultivation of loving kindness and compassion is all of our practice."
And The Dalai Lama :
"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
How is this relevant for the practitioner of Satoro?
In Chi Kung the masters say that there is a brain in the heart. As the heart is the emotional center of the body, the Head brain, in the matter of emotions, follows the lead of the Heart brain. If the heart is open then love and compassion will flow. If the heart is closed then compassion is shut down. The Dalai Lama once said that in the West the heart energy needs to be developed more because we live so much in our heads.
At the same time the heart energy has to be cultivated with discernment. We are challenged every day with the sight of homeless people. Do we give charity or compassion? Do we give money to some people who will only spend it to serve their drug habit? It’s a matter of discernment and insight Anatta and the heart and mind.
Is our healing given purely as a business proposition, as a means of maintenance? It’s often enough a part of the equation, but should it be the whole? Sometimes you wonder.
If it is that the Divine is becoming us and connected to us and our Shen in the Heart, and the Soul Seat in the Higher Heart, then that is the source of our healing. It is the conduit of a compassionate heart that the Divine may flow.
This is the essence of Compassion for the practitioner of Satoro. The background is complex and subtle and far removed from any thought of compassion as pity or condescension.
*** Click below to read more.
Compassion is the active desire to alleviate another’s suffering. It comes from the heart energy. The etymology of "compassion" is Latin/Greek, meaning ‘co-suffering’ and is related to the word patient (one who suffers).
Compassion or karuna is at the transcendental and experiential heart of the Buddha's teachings. He said that
“the cultivation of loving kindness and compassion is all of our practice."
And The Dalai Lama :
"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
How is this relevant for the practitioner of Satoro?
In Chi Kung the masters say that there is a brain in the heart. As the heart is the emotional center of the body, the Head brain, in the matter of emotions, follows the lead of the Heart brain. If the heart is open then love and compassion will flow. If the heart is closed then compassion is shut down. The Dalai Lama once said that in the West the heart energy needs to be developed more because we live so much in our heads.
At the same time the heart energy has to be cultivated with discernment. We are challenged every day with the sight of homeless people. Do we give charity or compassion? Do we give money to some people who will only spend it to serve their drug habit? It’s a matter of discernment and insight Anatta and the heart and mind.
Is our healing given purely as a business proposition, as a means of maintenance? It’s often enough a part of the equation, but should it be the whole? Sometimes you wonder.
If it is that the Divine is becoming us and connected to us and our Shen in the Heart, and the Soul Seat in the Higher Heart, then that is the source of our healing. It is the conduit of a compassionate heart that the Divine may flow.
This is the essence of Compassion for the practitioner of Satoro. The background is complex and subtle and far removed from any thought of compassion as pity or condescension.
*** Click below to read more.
Hindu Yoga is a practice that seeks for physical, mental and spiritual purification with the compassionate mind and spirit as one of its important goals.
Various asanas and mudras are combined with meditation and self-reflection exercises to cultivate compassion which is held as a Noble Virtue. Daya karuna and anukampa carry shades of meaning related to compassion in Hinduism including karunya, ghrina, kripa, and anukrosha.
Gandhi himself stated that the virtue of compassion to all the living is a central concept in Hindu philosophy. Daya is defined by Padma Purana as a virtuous desire to mitigate the sorrow and difficulties of others by putting forth whatever effort necessary. Matsya Purana describes daya as the value that treats all living beings, including human beings, as one's own self, wanting the welfare and good of the other living being.
Such compassion, claims Matsya Purana, is one of the necessary paths to being happy. Daya is considering a stranger, a relative, a friend and a foe as own's own self. Daya is not kripa (pity) in Hinduism, nor feeling sorry for the sufferer, because that is marred with condescension; compassion is feeling one with the sufferer.
Compassion is the basis for ahimsa a core virtue in Hindu philosophy. It is a state when one sees all living beings as part of one's own self, and when everyone's suffering is seen as one's own suffering.
Karuna, means placing one's self in another's place and understanding another from their perspective.
Tirukkuṛa written between 200-400 AD, and sometimes called the Tamil Veda, dedicates Chapter 25 of Book 1, that one must pursue one's life path with compassion, all life deserves one's love, that charity without compassion is empty and inconceivable.
The Biblical conception of compassion is the feeling of the parent for the child and invokes the feeling of a mother for her offspring. The Rabbis speak of ‘thirteen attributes of compassion.’ In the Old Testament Hebrew, riḥam and reḥem, of the mother and the womb, means ‘to pity’ or ‘to show mercy’ in view of the sufferer's helplessness, therefore ‘to forgive’ Habakuk Ch3v2 and to ‘forbear’.
[The incarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, China, a Ming dynasty wood carving.]
Compassion or karuna is at the transcendental and experiential heart of the Buddha's teachings. He said that “the cultivation of loving kindness and compassion is all of our practice."
The Four Noble Truths is the truth of suffering or Dukkha (unhappiness and stress) one of the three distinguishing characteristic of all existence. It arises as a consequence of the failure to adapt to change or Anicca (the second characteristic) and the insubstantiality, lack of fixed identity, the horrendous lack
Anatta (the third characteristic) to which all this constant change in turn gives rise. Compassion made possible by observation and accurate perception is the appropriate practical response. This Noble truth serves as an archetype so as to relieve the suffering of all living beings everywhere.
[Avalokiteśvara looking out over the sea of suffering. China, Liao Dynasty.]
The Dalai Lama said, "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
Bhikkhu Bodhi states that 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 considering the experience of others, by sharing their inner selves in a deep and total way. and 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 manifest effective compassion for others it is first of all necessary to be able to experience and fully appreciate one's own suffering and to have, as a consequence, compassion for oneself. The Buddha is reported to have said, "It is possible to travel the whole world in search of one who is more worthy of compassion than oneself. No such person can be found." Compassion is the antidote to the poison chalice of anger.
Jesus embodies for Christians, the very essence of compassion. In the Sermon on the Mount that, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." In the Parable of the Good Samaritan he holds up to his followers theideal of compassionate conduct. True Christian compassion, say the Gospels, should extend to all, even to the extent of loving one's enemies.
In the Muslim tradition, as sung from the minaret of every mosque, foremost among God's attributes are mercy and compassion or, in Arabic, Rahman and Rahim. Each of the 114 chapters of the Quran, with one exception, begins with the verse,
"In the name of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful." The Arabic word for compassion is rahmah. A good Muslim commences each day, each prayer and each significant action by invoking Allah the Merciful and compassionate by reciting
Bism-i-llah a-Rahman-i-Rahim. The womb and family ties are characterized by compassion and named after the exalted attribute of Allah ‘Al-Rahim, The Compassionate’. The Quran urges compassion towards captives as well as to widows, orphans and the poor. Zakat, a toll tax to help the poor and needy, is obligatory upon all Muslims deemed wealthy enough to do so. 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. The Prophet is referred to by the Quran as the Mercy for the World (21:107); and one of the sayings of the Prophet informs the faithful that "Allah is more loving and kinder than a mother to her dear child."
Compassion for all life, human and non-human, is central to the Jain tradition. Though all life is considered sacred, human life is deemed the highest form of earthly existence. To kill any person, no matter their crime, is considered unimaginably abhorrent. It is the only substantial religious tradition that requires both monks and laity to be vegetarian.
It is suggested that certain strains of the Hindu tradition became vegetarian due to strong Jain influences. The Jain tradition's stance on nonviolence, however, goes far beyond vegetarianism. Jains refuse food obtained with unnecessary cruelty. Many practice veganism. Jains run animal shelters all over India. The Lal Mandir, a prominent Jain temple in Delhi, is known for the Jain Birds Hospital in a second building behind the main temple. Every city and town in Bundelkhand has animal shelters run by Jains. Jain monks go to lengths to avoid killing any living creature, sweeping the ground in front of them to avoid killing insects and even wearing a face mask to avoid inhaling the smallest fly.
A complete absence of compassion necessitates complete disassociation. The seemingly essential step in atrocities such as genocides is that of defining the victims as "not human" or "not us." Compassion consists of three major requirements: People must feel that troubles that evoke their feelings are serious, people require that sufferers' troubles are not self-inflicted, and that people must be able to picture themselves with the same problems.
In a 2009 the Brain and Creativity Institute studied strong feelings of compassion for social and involved change in activity in the anterior insula, anterior cingulate, hypothalamus, and midbrain and on the posterior medial surface of each brain hemisphere. Acts of compassion have been found to simulate areas known to regulate homeostasis, such as insular cortex and hypothalamus.
Physicians generally identify their central duties as the responsibility to put the patient's interests first, including the duty not to harm, deliver proper care, and maintain confidentiality. Individuals with a higher capacity or responsibility to empathize with others may be at risk for compassion fatigue or stress, which is related to professionals and individuals who spend a significant amount of time responding to information related to suffering.
And so we return to our starting point:
“The cultivation of loving kindness and compassion is all of our practice." – -The Buddha
"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." -- The Dalai Lama :
And for the practitioner of Satoro …
In Chi Kung the masters say that there is a brain in the heart. As the heart is the emotional center of the body, the Head brain, in the matter of emotions, follows the lead of the Heart brain. If the heart is open then love and compassion will flow. If the heart is closed then compassion is shut down. The Dalai Lama once said that in the West the heart energy needs to be developed more because we live so much in our heads.
At the same time the heart energy has to be cultivated with discernment. We are challenged every day with the sight of homeless people. Do we give charity or compassion? Do we give money to some people who will only spend it to serve their drug habit? It’s a matter of discernment and insight Anatta and the heart and mind.
Is our healing given purely as a business proposition, as a means of maintenance? It’s often enough a part of the equation, but should it be the whole? Sometimes you wonder.
If it is that the Divine is becoming us and connected to us and our Shen in the Heart, and the Soul Seat in the Higher Heart, then that is the source of our healing. It is the conduit of a compassionate heart that the Divine may flow.
Roy Mulholland
Various asanas and mudras are combined with meditation and self-reflection exercises to cultivate compassion which is held as a Noble Virtue. Daya karuna and anukampa carry shades of meaning related to compassion in Hinduism including karunya, ghrina, kripa, and anukrosha.
Gandhi himself stated that the virtue of compassion to all the living is a central concept in Hindu philosophy. Daya is defined by Padma Purana as a virtuous desire to mitigate the sorrow and difficulties of others by putting forth whatever effort necessary. Matsya Purana describes daya as the value that treats all living beings, including human beings, as one's own self, wanting the welfare and good of the other living being.
Such compassion, claims Matsya Purana, is one of the necessary paths to being happy. Daya is considering a stranger, a relative, a friend and a foe as own's own self. Daya is not kripa (pity) in Hinduism, nor feeling sorry for the sufferer, because that is marred with condescension; compassion is feeling one with the sufferer.
Compassion is the basis for ahimsa a core virtue in Hindu philosophy. It is a state when one sees all living beings as part of one's own self, and when everyone's suffering is seen as one's own suffering.
Karuna, means placing one's self in another's place and understanding another from their perspective.
Tirukkuṛa written between 200-400 AD, and sometimes called the Tamil Veda, dedicates Chapter 25 of Book 1, that one must pursue one's life path with compassion, all life deserves one's love, that charity without compassion is empty and inconceivable.
The Biblical conception of compassion is the feeling of the parent for the child and invokes the feeling of a mother for her offspring. The Rabbis speak of ‘thirteen attributes of compassion.’ In the Old Testament Hebrew, riḥam and reḥem, of the mother and the womb, means ‘to pity’ or ‘to show mercy’ in view of the sufferer's helplessness, therefore ‘to forgive’ Habakuk Ch3v2 and to ‘forbear’.
[The incarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, China, a Ming dynasty wood carving.]
Compassion or karuna is at the transcendental and experiential heart of the Buddha's teachings. He said that “the cultivation of loving kindness and compassion is all of our practice."
The Four Noble Truths is the truth of suffering or Dukkha (unhappiness and stress) one of the three distinguishing characteristic of all existence. It arises as a consequence of the failure to adapt to change or Anicca (the second characteristic) and the insubstantiality, lack of fixed identity, the horrendous lack
Anatta (the third characteristic) to which all this constant change in turn gives rise. Compassion made possible by observation and accurate perception is the appropriate practical response. This Noble truth serves as an archetype so as to relieve the suffering of all living beings everywhere.
[Avalokiteśvara looking out over the sea of suffering. China, Liao Dynasty.]
The Dalai Lama said, "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
Bhikkhu Bodhi states that 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 considering the experience of others, by sharing their inner selves in a deep and total way. and 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 manifest effective compassion for others it is first of all necessary to be able to experience and fully appreciate one's own suffering and to have, as a consequence, compassion for oneself. The Buddha is reported to have said, "It is possible to travel the whole world in search of one who is more worthy of compassion than oneself. No such person can be found." Compassion is the antidote to the poison chalice of anger.
Jesus embodies for Christians, the very essence of compassion. In the Sermon on the Mount that, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." In the Parable of the Good Samaritan he holds up to his followers theideal of compassionate conduct. True Christian compassion, say the Gospels, should extend to all, even to the extent of loving one's enemies.
In the Muslim tradition, as sung from the minaret of every mosque, foremost among God's attributes are mercy and compassion or, in Arabic, Rahman and Rahim. Each of the 114 chapters of the Quran, with one exception, begins with the verse,
"In the name of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful." The Arabic word for compassion is rahmah. A good Muslim commences each day, each prayer and each significant action by invoking Allah the Merciful and compassionate by reciting
Bism-i-llah a-Rahman-i-Rahim. The womb and family ties are characterized by compassion and named after the exalted attribute of Allah ‘Al-Rahim, The Compassionate’. The Quran urges compassion towards captives as well as to widows, orphans and the poor. Zakat, a toll tax to help the poor and needy, is obligatory upon all Muslims deemed wealthy enough to do so. 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. The Prophet is referred to by the Quran as the Mercy for the World (21:107); and one of the sayings of the Prophet informs the faithful that "Allah is more loving and kinder than a mother to her dear child."
Compassion for all life, human and non-human, is central to the Jain tradition. Though all life is considered sacred, human life is deemed the highest form of earthly existence. To kill any person, no matter their crime, is considered unimaginably abhorrent. It is the only substantial religious tradition that requires both monks and laity to be vegetarian.
It is suggested that certain strains of the Hindu tradition became vegetarian due to strong Jain influences. The Jain tradition's stance on nonviolence, however, goes far beyond vegetarianism. Jains refuse food obtained with unnecessary cruelty. Many practice veganism. Jains run animal shelters all over India. The Lal Mandir, a prominent Jain temple in Delhi, is known for the Jain Birds Hospital in a second building behind the main temple. Every city and town in Bundelkhand has animal shelters run by Jains. Jain monks go to lengths to avoid killing any living creature, sweeping the ground in front of them to avoid killing insects and even wearing a face mask to avoid inhaling the smallest fly.
A complete absence of compassion necessitates complete disassociation. The seemingly essential step in atrocities such as genocides is that of defining the victims as "not human" or "not us." Compassion consists of three major requirements: People must feel that troubles that evoke their feelings are serious, people require that sufferers' troubles are not self-inflicted, and that people must be able to picture themselves with the same problems.
In a 2009 the Brain and Creativity Institute studied strong feelings of compassion for social and involved change in activity in the anterior insula, anterior cingulate, hypothalamus, and midbrain and on the posterior medial surface of each brain hemisphere. Acts of compassion have been found to simulate areas known to regulate homeostasis, such as insular cortex and hypothalamus.
Physicians generally identify their central duties as the responsibility to put the patient's interests first, including the duty not to harm, deliver proper care, and maintain confidentiality. Individuals with a higher capacity or responsibility to empathize with others may be at risk for compassion fatigue or stress, which is related to professionals and individuals who spend a significant amount of time responding to information related to suffering.
And so we return to our starting point:
“The cultivation of loving kindness and compassion is all of our practice." – -The Buddha
"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." -- The Dalai Lama :
And for the practitioner of Satoro …
In Chi Kung the masters say that there is a brain in the heart. As the heart is the emotional center of the body, the Head brain, in the matter of emotions, follows the lead of the Heart brain. If the heart is open then love and compassion will flow. If the heart is closed then compassion is shut down. The Dalai Lama once said that in the West the heart energy needs to be developed more because we live so much in our heads.
At the same time the heart energy has to be cultivated with discernment. We are challenged every day with the sight of homeless people. Do we give charity or compassion? Do we give money to some people who will only spend it to serve their drug habit? It’s a matter of discernment and insight Anatta and the heart and mind.
Is our healing given purely as a business proposition, as a means of maintenance? It’s often enough a part of the equation, but should it be the whole? Sometimes you wonder.
If it is that the Divine is becoming us and connected to us and our Shen in the Heart, and the Soul Seat in the Higher Heart, then that is the source of our healing. It is the conduit of a compassionate heart that the Divine may flow.
Roy Mulholland