Compassion as Our Fashion

We often hear Buddhists talk about wisdom and compassion. Buddhism is often called the religion of wisdom and compassion, and when we inquire further into this idea we find that the most important thing is opening our eyes of wisdom and thereby bringing ourselves and others to salvation. What do these two terms actually mean?

One of my favorite quote, “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” – Dalai Lama

Compassion is a uniquely human quality. Compassion is made up of two words, 'co' meaning together and 'passion' meaning a strong feeling. And this is what compassion is. When we see someone in distress and we feel their pain as if it were our own, and strive to eliminate or lessen their pain, then this is compassion. So all the best in human beings, all the Buddha-like qualities like sharing, readiness to give comfort, sympathy, concern and caring - all are manifestations of compassion. You will notice also that in the compassionate person, care and love towards others has its origins in care and love for oneself. We can really understand others when we really understand ourselves. We will know what's best for others when we know what's best for ourselves. We can feel for others when we feel for ourselves. I believe compassion to be one of the few things we can practice that will bring immediate and long-term happiness to our lives.

The highest wisdom is seeing that in reality all phenomena are incomplete, impermanent, and not self. I used to think of "wisdom" as something that is primarily intellectual. The Buddha taught that to realize enlightenment, a person must develop two qualities: wisdom and compassion. These are considered the two most important aspects of practice. Just like a bird needs two wings to fly; a very compassionate person without wisdom will end up being a good-hearted fool, a very kind person but with little or no understanding.

Anger or hatred is the main obstacle that causes deterioration to compassion and the awakening mind. Shantideva's discussion provides the causes of anger as : personal suffering, being disrespected, and being spoken to harshly. One can destroy anger by knowing one's enemy and by realizing that he creates only sorrows. Perhaps surprisingly, the worst way to deal with anger is to suppress it. The remedy for anger is patience. By meditating on the causes of anger, one can feel compassion for one's enemy. Practise patience before getting angry and having patience in accepting problems is really important. It's already been noted that compassion arises from wisdom, just as wisdom arises from compassion.

Compassion for yourself, we are best able to help others after we have helped ourselves. Isn't that a bit selfish? Many people make the error of trying to love and be kind to others while at the same time not focusing on love and being kind to themselves. Many people are taught to put others ahead of themselves. Self-compassion can seem like the opposite of what you “should” be doing: taking care of others. But how will beating yourself up help you be kinder to others? The source of our compassion will only be more authentic when we are able to show compassion to ourselves first. Perhaps most importantly, having compassion for yourself means that you honor and accept your humanness. Things will not always go the way you want them to. You will encounter frustrations, losses will occur, you will make mistakes, bump up against your limitations, fall short of your ideals. This is the human condition, a reality shared by all of us. The more you open your heart to this reality instead of constantly fighting against it, the more you will be able to feel compassion for yourself and all your fellow humans in the experience of life.

Compassion for others, compassion is the dynamic relationship between oneself and others. Even so, in modern times consideration for the "other" is weakening and it seems that we live in an age in which coexisting with other people is undervalued. The "other" not only indicates other people, but also refers to living beings other than human beings--and to the mountains, rivers, plants, and trees that make up the natural environment. We human beings are not living alone. We live surrounded by all the interconnections of many different people, animals, plants, our physical environment, and so on. In that sense, we can say that our lives are sustained through the help of others. First, to have compassion for others you must notice that they are suffering. If you ignore that homeless person on the street, you can’t feel compassion for how difficult his or her experience is. Second, compassion involves feeling moved by others’ suffering so that your heart responds to their pain. When this occurs, you feel warmth, caring, and the desire to help the suffering person in some way. Having compassion also means that you offer understanding and kindness to others when they fail or make mistakes, rather than judging them harshly. Finally, when you feel compassion for another, it means that you realize that suffering, failure, and imperfection is part of the shared human experience.

Compassion for animals, 50 million animals were killed every year for their skins. Fox, rabbit, dog, cat, raccoon, squirrels, and other animals are the most abundant animals being killed for fur. How do I show and practice compassion for them? Eat less meat, do not use animal products, do not hurt the animals for the sake of your pleasure, and help the animal welfare. Every animal has the right to be free from hunger and thirst, free from from pain, injury and disease, free from discomfort, maltreatment and abuse, free from fear and distress and freely express their natural behavior. We should cherish their lives, we have no right to hurt them just for the sake of our pleasure. We are all the same, feeling suffering, and we all want to find happiness and avoid suffering. If you have pet,  remember that your pets didn’t ask to be with you. You choose them, so be responsible and kind to take the best care of them for the rest of their lives. Their lives are equally important and as precious as our lives.

And now maybe other questions popped-up in your mind, why do we have to practice compassion? What are the benefits?

The main benefit is that it helps us to be more happy, and brings others around us to be more happy. If we agree that it is a common aim of each of us to strive to be happy, then compassion is one of the main tools for achieving that happiness. Compassionate people’s minds wander less about what has gone wrong in their lives, or might go wrong in the future, as a result, they’re happier. Compassionate people are more optimistic and supportive when communicating with others. Compassion will make this world a better place to live. Compassion is contagious and spreads outwards, inspiring further acts of compassion and kindness when witnessed and experienced.

I highly recommend that you take a few minutes before you go to bed to reflect upon your day. Think about the people you met and talked to, and how you treated each other. Think about your goal that you stated this morning, to act with compassion towards others. How well did you do? What could you do better? What did you learn from your experiences today? It’s a good idea to make compassion as a daily practice. Compassionate practices can be done anywhere, any time. At work, at home, at school, on the road, while traveling, while at a store, while at the home of a friend or family member, and even to your pets or plants. This, above all, with bring happiness to your life and to those around you.

Let’s make compassion as our fashion and life style!