Compassion – Karuna (Skt)

May I at the outset say that this is the personal interpretation and opinion of the writer and is thus subject to and in fact invites informed criticism.

It is said that Buddhism is based on the teaching of compassion. Often one hears somebody say: ‘Have a bit of compassion! or He/she helped that person out of compassion. or You are driving in peak hour traffic and someone comes tearing along from a side lane wanting to push in, but you ignore him. And the passenger with you says ‘Oh, have a bit of compassion and let him in!’ Now what exactly is this business of compassion? Does it affect Buddhists more than other people, and does it in any way impact on ones’ Karma?

Is it really just a matter of feeling, ‘ag shame, I’m sorry hey’. Or how does one approach this whole aspect without thinking: “Well, I guess it’s just your Karma lucky me this time round if I look away and stop thinking about it quick enough maybe I won’t feel guilty.” How does one go about being of use, or benefit, to help all those other suffering sentient beings in the rest of the world? What exactly does compassion or being compassionate mean?

We have a practice for invoking or generating compassion. How many Buddhists do the Chenrezig puja fairly regularly, and also do it mindfully, i.e. with the correct purpose and intention? Maybe there are many that don’t even know what Chenrezig is all about. They just love to hear the chanting, and then the overtones. After all it so soothing and relaxing, almost therapeutic. That it is too, but is that really why one should be doing it? Is there actually more to all of this than meets the eye, or ear, or is compassion really just feeling sorry for somebody else and then helping them in whatever way they want to be helped?

There is an easy way to answer this, but there is also a much more involved and deeper answer. The easy answer says that there will always be some sentient beings that are in need, and we should help them. So we do exactly that. We help them according do their needs! The only problem with this approach to compassion is that very often one runs the risk of it being “unequal” or “top-down” compassion. It means WE help, or give to, them because WE are more advanced, or wealthier, or stronger, or cleverer, than them. With this you can actually do more harm than good to the very beings that you are trying to help, because it very often engenders a sense of guilt or shame in the recipients, especially if they are human beings.

So true compassion should be based on equality. We are then obviously going to have to look at the deeper and more involved answer. Chenrezig is a Tibetan Buddhist practice, and Chenrezig was a bodhisattva. In Sanskrit, ‘bodhi’ implies enlightenment or the act of enlightening others and ‘sattva’ means being. Thus a bodhisattva is a being which is on the path of becoming enlightened or which is committed to leading others to enlightenment. It can be a monk, a nun, or an ordinary person like you and me. Interesting enough in Buddhist history the majority of bodhisattvas were in fact laity. One of the most important qualities of a bodhisattva is compassion. When a Bodhisattva is compassionate, it sees itself as being one and the same as the person toward whom it is being compassionate, and it is compassionate to all. This is one of the greatest distinctions in all of Buddhism. True compassion neither springs from feelings of superiority or pity, nor does it ever humiliate anyone, and it never asks for anything in return. Thus, in a very deep sense, one could say that in an act of true compassion there is neither a giver nor a recipient, since all sentient beings are one. There are no differences between any of us, hence it is said that your pain is my pain, just as your joy is mine, too.

Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara

(in Sanskrit) or Kuan-yin (in Chinese) is a symbolic representative of great compassion in the Mahayana vehicle of Buddhism. The great vow of this bodhisattva was to free all sentient beings from fears of any kind. Two sentences quoted from a famous verse read:

I shall go to thousands of places

In response to thousands of prayers.

In the vast sea of suffering,

I always serve as a ferry to deliver beings.

In this verse you may note that there is

1. no geographical limitation

2. no limit to the number of prayers to which the bodhisattva will respond

3. no restriction as to what kind of prayers will receive responses

4. no discrimination as to who is making  the prayer

5. no interruption in serving; it continues day and night

6. no expectation of a reward of any kind

This is the great compassion one should learn. Surely not too much to ask for. And at this point some readers may think that this is quite similar to the ‘great love’ taught by Christ. Indeed, according to a Buddhist interpretation Jesus Christ was a great bodhisattva. On many occasions he taught his followers to give totally of themselves in the service of others. He himself even gave his own life.

It is recorded that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva vowed not to become a Buddha until Hell wasn’t empty. That kind of vow is born only in the deepest realisation of truth and compassion. In order to live along similar lines basically involves something which is not very popular, especially in the western world, i.e. altruism or in other words putting others first. This does not imply that one now becomes a doormat. It means taking other’s feelings into consideration, to help where ever one can help and if one can not help, at least refrain from harming or destroying. 

The Lotus Sutra says, “With great compassion we strive to save all sentient beings.” When most people speak about love, they make a distinction in their minds between themselves and other people. In contrast, true compassion makes no distinction between the self and others. Compassion stands in a position of dynamic mutuality. Compassion creates an ongoing relationship, which is not based on one’s own self interests. For this reason, we should do our utmost to have compassionate relations with everyone we love. At the same time, we should strive to have compassionate relations with all others as well. We should all work to develop pure hearts that benefit ourselves as well as others. As the old saying goes, we should ‘feel compassion for no reason, and kindness toward all beings.’ 

So let us take a look at what various dictionaries and thesauruses have to say about compassion. We will take a general tour of the word and see where it leads us. It has been defined as also meaning: (where the words in capital letters are the direct definition, and the words thereafter further defining them in turn)

FORGIVENESS – absolution, reprieve, sympathy

APPRECIATION – awareness, consciousness, understanding

TENDERNESS – affection, love, gentleness

CLEMENCY – humanity, kindliness, leniency

COMMISERATION – consolation, sharing, concern

PITY – condolence, charity, perception, sensitivity

FEELING – passion, empathy, consideration

MERCY – generosity, tolerance, forgiveness

HEART – sensitivity, kindness, spirit

KINDNESS – humanity, courtesy, generosity

CARE – attitude, thought, interest, respect

………

and some which don’t seem to have any connection what-so-ever, e.g. sharpness, delicacy, nicety. The very last thing anybody being compassionate should necessarily be, is nice. That is not to say that one should not try to be nice on top of everything else, but it is not a prerequisite for the basic act of being forgiving and caring, reaching out a helping hand where possible or being just plain civil towards all sentient beings.

Now many of these terms, words and expressions are very common, yet because they are so common they are difficult to fathom or be more specific about. How do you explain compassion to a complete stranger, or how many people in the world realise that being compassionate is much more than just giving food to a beggar, old clothes to the poor or books to charity.

Yet the opposite which is defined as for example cruelty, indifference, hatred, severity, (but which I suppose could also include burning characteristics of the five aggregates such as anger, ignorance, jealousy, pride and excessive desire) are strangely all terms or concepts which it would seem most people are fairly familiar with?

Among the secondary definitions of compassion are some with which we are more familiar than others, since they have been taught to us since childhood and we are in turn teaching them to our children. Take love. We all know what love is.

In the English language there is only one word for love, but in Greek there are four words:

AGAPE – is a choice; a commitment; a brotherly or God love.

DILIGO – neighbourly love; to love your enemy like yourself.

EROS – sexual love; love between man and woman.

PHILEO – happens to you; is an emotion; dear, fond or friend love.

So, depending on the context in which and how it is used, it will describe exactly what type of love is meant or intended.

And who doesn’t know the meaning of charity. We all have heard of charity organisations, and many of us have probably even worked for such an organisation at some time or other. Every winter old clothes are collected, at other times books or food, money, pots and pans, you name it, there are always charity organisations in need of things, for people and animals who are suffering in one or more ways.

CHARITY

open-handedness, tolerance, patience, indulgence (lenience)

So, did you know that charity also means tolerance, patience and indulgence?

TOLERANCE

endurance, stamina, patience, forbearance, sufferance, but also:

open-mindedness

- which means:

impartiality, liberality, allowance, variation, magnanimity, leniency and once again

COMPASSION!

Now a rather interesting word that a crossword dictionary showed up and which immediately reminded me of Rob Nairn’s description of compassion, is:

SENSIBILITY

“The discerning ability to help in an appropriate manner. It is not a sentimental emotion. It is vital active knowledge of what is appropriate in a given situation”, where I suppose the emphasis here obviously is on appropriate. Also note that dictionaries define sentimental as syrupy; idealistic; romantic; sappy and/or simpering, and essentially these will lead to an insincere and artificial character and/or personality, which in turn will ultimately benefit no one in the long run. One should at all times be mindful and practical, i.e. sensible.

To sum up. Buddhist compassion brings the small self of the individual into an ongoing relationship with the larger self of the whole world. Buddhist compassion teaches us to not just think of ourselves, but to think of the good of all sentient beings. Compassion can be thought of as a higher form of love or as a purified form of love. Compassion is like the sky. It takes the heavens as its perspective, while all things under it are the objects of its concern.

The Avatamsaka Sutra says, “The Bodhisattva is compassionate because he sees the need for compassion among sentient beings. Once his mind has become compassionate, he nurtures his Bodhi nature. Because he nurtures this nature, he moves closer to full Buddhahood.

As far as Karma is concerned at this point in time one can only touch on the subject. To really explore the possibilities, probabilities and related intricacies involves far more than there is space for here, and could possibly be dealt with in a subsequent article. But let me briefly list the twelve types of Karma and then everybody can decide for themselves which one, or more, and in what way, they think it will affect them.

Classification of Karma as it Produces Fruit

Immediately effective Karma

Subsequently effective Karma

Indefinitely effective Karma

Lapsed Karma which becomes inoperative

Generative Karma which conditions future birth

Supportive Karma

Counteractive Karma

Destructive Karma

Weighty or Serious Karma

Death proximate Karma

Habitual Karma

Cumulative Karma which lies dormant and becomes active in the presence of other supporting Karma

To briefly touch on the traffic situation, let me assure you that the best way to be compassionate is by adhering to the rules of the road and enforcing the traffic ordinance. Be courteous and polite, but most of all be mindful. Know that you are not on a playground, but that you have your own and other people’s lives in your hand - so stop playing around. Don’t try to take chances. And just because you have got your indicator on it does not give you an automatic right to drive, change direction or turn off. Only once it is safe to do so. Seem obvious to you? Well not so to thousands of other road users. But that is a topic all on its own.

And if all of that is too much to cope with, perhaps start off with a bit of tenderness at home, some politeness in public or a friendly smile at the workplace; when the other person least expects it. Who knows what might happen?

Finally that famous quote which I don’t know where it comes from, but I can only assume be Cape Town: ‘Practice random kindness’, and senseless acts of beauty!’ You can’t go wrong.

Free references made to:

Mayflower II – CT Chen

A Letter to Members of the BLIA – Ven Master Hsing Yun

Tranquil Mind – R Nairn

(Originally written September 1998)