The Gift of Compassion

Courtesy of Stuart Miles/freedigitaphotos.net

of Compassion

Last May I attended a talk given by Matthieu Riccard, a Tibetan Buddhist monk. After his sharing about compassion, he welcomed questions. Another attendee began her question with a comment. She said it was easy for her to show compassion for those people she loved. She asked how she could show compassion for those who did not have the same life philosophy she held. How could she be compassionate to those involved in mountaintop removal and other environmentally unkind actions? These were people with whom she had no personal connection. How could compassion be her response to their behavior?

After a brief pause, Matthieu responded, “Compassion is not a reward for good behavior.”

Those words reached out to me twining deeply into my essence. With that reminder something shifted inside of me. I listened with the ear of my heart to that shift and felt compassion with a new awareness. For me, compassion no longer was an option. It was a choice. But, more than that, compassion became a right for others and myself and a privilege to share. In that aha moment, I recognized the path of the bodhisattva.  It is down this is the path that those who are committed to sharing compassion for all and everything venture.

Although compassion is heart-based, the head, our mind, is integral to sharing our compassion. Questioning how to form an appropriate compassionate response creates a holistic approach to being compassionate. When our response is the result of engaging our head and our heart, we are more likely to be bringers of compassion. If we do not approach sharing compassion holistically, we run the risk of our compassionate response being the impetus of enabling another to cause harm.

I ponder the shadow side of compassion this week. What happens when we alleviate the suffering of others in ways that empower their self-righteous indignation?  What happens when the reactions fueled by this indignation they cause harm? Sharing compassion is a not as simple as it may seem. It’s the balance. The goal is to alleviate another’s suffering while negating their desires to be hurtful or harmful. In a sense our compassionate response triggers their compassionate response and healing.

No answer to this pondering about compassion…just an open-ended question. I would welcome your response to the question of how to be compassionate in ways that are loving, gentle, and honest without empowering the other to be compassionless. 

Welcoming Your Response, 

Vanessa

www.healingwillow.com