Compassion

[dakinishir]

We are a small and lonely human race

Comments

[journalfriend]

What a wonderful and delightful post..
thank you so much!
Journal Friend

[dakinishir]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[dakinishir]

Awww...thanks. I can always use hugs.

[breathingbooks]

The most we can do, that is, our very essence, the very best of ourselves, is to practice compassion.

If compassion equals love then this seems to fit all that we are to do boiling down to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves, knowing that God is in us if we have love, etc.

Compassion consists of learning that we're not unique.

Consists of? No. Likely entails learning that everyone including ourself is a faulty human capable of great love and understanding? Yes.

[dakinishir]

I wonder if compassion = love. there's a relationship, certainly, but I'm not sure they are synonymous. Definitions! Woo!

I think that second statement you highlighted is misleading as well. I think learning we're not unique is a pre-requisite for true compassion, but it is not the only component of compassion.

Thanks for your thoughtful comments. Always good to see you here!

[breathingbooks]

I think learning we're not unique is a pre-requisite for true compassion

If you have time, I'd be interested to read your explanation of this.

[dakinishir]

It's something I learned mostly from Pema Chodron. I started to do Tonglen meditation due to her guidance and found it a very profound practice. I'm going to paste in a bit of a talk she gave about Tonglen. Her words are more eloquent, and direct, than mine. But the basic idea is that once we learn/know/get that whatever pain we are feeling, others are ALSO feeling (we are not unique), we naturally become more compassionate

[tirwen_star03]

That's a really interesting poem. Especially, I thought, what it said about art. When a piece of music or literature reaches across time and space to strike a chord with me, there's a certain feeling of having much more in common with other people than I usually think I do...

Compassion consists of learning that we're not unique.
That startled me at first, but it does kind of fit with my own concept of compassion (and love and maturity too)--realizing it's not all about me. I do think that people (and well, all living things) are unique in some way... but no one is more unique than anyone else, and we have a huge volume of things in common, even if it's not instantly obvious.

And--like what art does--feeling non-unique can be a comforting, fulfilling sort of thing, I think. :)

[dakinishir]

Yeah art is sadly underrated in social intercourse. And education. I do truly believe it is one of the main ways we can connect with ourselves and each other. You know, your comments often make me think about Creation Spirituality - a movement led by Fox. I wonder if you would find it interesting. His book, Original Blessing goes into it, as does the website. Lots about art and creativity and their necessity to healthy, whole, loving human endeavor.

realizing it's not all about me

That is such a HUGE realization. And I mean that in a direct felt sense way, not just an intellecualization way. I think most of us 'know' this truth up in our heads, but those of us who have 'gotten' it experientially tend to be more compassionate, ime.

Thanks sweet. Good to see you here.

[tirwen_star03]

That does sound interesting. I've always felt that creativity is important for spirituality... I'll definitely check out the website.
Thank you. ♥