compassion-Buddhism

Compassion and a good heart

Comment May 9, 2023

Since compassion and a good heart are developed through constant and conscious effort, it is important for us first to identify the favorable conditions that give rise to our own qualities of kindness and a good heart, as well as the adverse circumstances that obstruct our cultivation of these positive states of mind. It is therefore important for us to lead a life of constant mindfulness and mental alertness. Our mastery of these faculties should be such that whenever a new situation arises, we are able to immediately recognize whether the circumstances are favorable or adverse to the development of compassion and a good heart. By pursuing the practice of compassion in such a manner, we will gradually be able to alleviate the effects of the obstructive forces and enhance the conditions that favor the development of compassion and a good heart. ~ 14th Dalai Lama
The Buddha Teaches a Lesson on Forgiveness

1 December 27, 2020

3-year-old Ananda

The Buddha was sitting under a tree talking to his disciples when a man came and spit on his face. He wiped it off, and he asked the man, “What next? What do you want to say next?” The man was a little puzzled because he himself never expected that when you spit on somebody’s face, he will ask, “What next?” He had no such experience in his past. He had insulted people and they had become angry and they had reacted. Or if they were cowards and weaklings, they had smiled, trying to bribe the man. But Buddha was like neither, he was not angry nor in any way offended, nor in any way cowardly. But just matter-of-factly he said, “What next?” There was no reaction on his part.

Buddha’s disciples became angry, they reacted. His closest disciple, Ananda, said, “This is too much, and we cannot tolerate it. He has to be punished for it. Otherwise everybody will start doing things like this.”

Buddha said, “You keep silent. He has not offended me, but you are offending me. He is new, a stranger. He must have heard from people something about me, that this man is an atheist, a dangerous man who is throwing people off their track, a revolutionary, a corrupter. And he may have formed some idea, a notion of me. He has not spit on me, he has spit on his notion. He has spit on his idea of me because he does not know me at all, so how can he spit on me? Continue reading →
Compassion brings us an inner strength

1 August 27, 2020

A mind committed to compassion is like an overflowing reservoir — a constant source of energy, determination, and kindness. Or this mind can be likened to a seed; when cultivated, it gives rise to many other qualities, such as tolerance, inner strength, and the confidence to overcome fear and insecurity. Compassion also brings us an inner strength. Once it is developed, it naturally opens an inner door, through which we can communicate with fellow human beings, and even other sentient beings, with ease, and heart to heart. ~Dailai Lama
Compassion is more than sympathy and more than empathy

Comment September 16, 2019

Compassion is more than sympathy and more than empathy. With sympathy and empathy, most of the time there is a sense of placing the object of your sympathy over there and having some understanding of their situation or where they come from. Compassion is deeper and more strongly felt than that. With compassion you do not experience the person as an object over there, separate from you, but rather you have the wish or the feeling that you have become the other. That is the sort of feeling we are aiming for. Compassion has a sense of coming out from where you are, and going over to the position of the other – even jumping across to their position.

In short, compassion makes us a part of others. It brings us out from our own space and moves us into the place of the other. Compassion is not a matter of staying in our own space, looking down at their suffering and calling ourselves compassionate. ~ 17th Karmapa
Watch the thought and its ways with care

1 August 6, 2019

The thought manifests the word;
The word manifests the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character;
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let them spring forth from love
Born out of compassion for all beings.
As the shadow follows the body, as we think, so we become.

~Juan Mascaró

Jendhamuni at UMass Lowell on July 26, 2019
The value of compassion

Comment April 18, 2019

The value of compassion cannot be over-emphasized. Anyone can criticize. It takes a true believer to be compassionate. No greater burden can be borne by an individual than to know no one cares or understands. ~Arthur H. Stainback
The very essence of all Dharma

Comment January 10, 2018

If someone has compassion, he is a Buddha;
Without compassion, he is a Lord of Death.

With compassion, the root of Dharma is planted,
Without compassion, the root of Dharma is rotten.

One with compassion is kind even when angry,
One without compassion will kill even as he smiles.

For one with compassion, even his enemies will turn into friends,
Without compassion, even his friends turn into enemies.

With compassion, one has all Dharmas,
Without compassion, one has no Dharma at all.

With compassion, one is a Buddhist,
Without compassion, one is worse than a heretic.

Even if meditating on voidness, one needs compassion as its essence.
A Dharma practitioner must have a compassionate nature.

Compassion is the distinctive characteristic of Buddhism.
Compassion is the very essence of all Dharma.

Great compassion is like a wish-fulfilling gem.
Great compassion will fulfill the hopes of self and others.

Therefore, all of you, practitioners and laypeople,
Cultivate compassion and you will achieve Buddhahood.

May all men and women who hear this song,
With great compassion, benefit all beings!

~ Shabkar
An act of compassion always brings about transformation

Comment January 7, 2018

An act of compassion always brings about transformation. If not right now, it will happen in the future. The important thing is you don’t react with anger. You react with compassion, and sooner or later you see the transformation in the other person. You keep being compassionate, you keep being patient. ~Thich Nhat Hanh
Forgiveness will not be possible until compassion is born in our heart

Comment January 7, 2018

Forgiveness will not be possible until compassion is born in our heart. Even if you want to forgive, you cannot forgive. In order to be compassionate, you have to understand why the other person has done that to you and your people. You have to see that they are victims of their own confusion, their own worldview, their own grieving, their own discrimination, their own lack of understanding and compassion. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt
In separateness…

Comment December 23, 2017

In separateness lies the world’s great misery, in compassion lies the world’s true strength. ~Buddha