What is compassion? Sympathy and compassion: do modern people need these qualities? Definition of empathy and compassion.

Compassion is a typical human feeling and is characterized by sympathy and empathy for the sadness of others. Compassion calls desire to help others overcome their problems comforting and providing emotional support.

The person who has compassion for others is the one who can understand emotional condition others and pity their condition, wishing that it might overcome or alleviate their suffering. For example, if someone feels sad while watching the misfortune or unhappiness of another person, this sympathy can be understood as compassion.

Unlike a simple feeling of empathy, compassion focuses on a person's desire to alleviate the suffering of another person. In these cases, for example, altruistic actions are common.

Learn more about the meaning of empathy.

Compassion is described as an essential feeling for maintaining peace in humanity and is described as the basis for various religious doctrines and beliefs such as Buddhism, Catholicism, Spiritualism and others.

Here are some of the main synonyms for compassion: a pity; compassion; it's a pity; mercy; compadecimento; condolence; sympathy; beileidskarte; grief; it's a pity; sensitivity; mercy and mercy.

Etymologically, the word "compassion" comes from the Latin compassionis, which means "common feeling" or "union of feelings".

Greetings, dear readers and guests of my blog! Today I want to talk to you about such an important human quality as compassion, its examples and distinctive features. This is one of the highest qualities of a person, only on one condition that it is true and not false. It is sometimes confused with worldly charity, or pity, how they differ, I will tell a little later. Therefore, read the article to the end.

AT explanatory dictionaries one can find a definition that this is pity for someone else's grief, joint suffering. On this topic, of course, you can argue for a long time, but I believe that this definition is fundamentally wrong.

Compassion is the ability of a person to feel the emotions and experiences of other people. It is a light that comes from one person and softens or even heals the pain of another.

Compassion has its components, without which it cannot be complete. It is kindness, mercy, love, respect and patience.

Let's look at each component in more detail.

Mercy

This two-root word literally means "sweet heart." What does mercy mean? First of all - disinterested help. For example, help an elderly person carry bags, feed a hungry street dog, just listen to someone. Secondly, mercy is the ability to forgive.

Kindness

This is a caring attitude towards people and the world as a whole. Kindness is not always obvious, sometimes it is not easy to see.

Let me give you two parents as an example. The father generously feeds the little son with sweets, cakes and other sweets that he asks for. And mom, on the contrary, does not allow him to get involved in sweets. Of course, in the opinion of the child, dad in this situation is kinder. But is it really so? Sometimes what is taken for kindness is simply the inability to refuse, ordinary conformity. Of course, in this case, real kindness and care is shown by the mother, although she is hidden behind external severity.

Love

A lot has been said and written about love, because it is such a broad and comprehensive concept that one can talk about endlessly. But now we will consider love as a component of compassion.

Of course, it is much easier to empathize with your loved ones, loved ones, because the emotions of kindred souls resonate at the same frequency. But what about strangers or how to sympathize with the enemy? In order to learn to love and feel the whole the world and its inhabitants, it is necessary to improve and develop their spiritual qualities.

Respect

The object of compassion must be treated with respect. Even if it is a small earthworm, it is the same creation of nature that this world needs. Without due respect and understanding, compassion turns into pity and humiliates the one to whom this feeling is manifested.

Patience

When you do things, it happens that they are not appreciated. Patience in this case will be an indicator of sincerity.

Showing compassion and empathy

Let's look at a few examples of how compassion is shown. Let's start with the most common one.

worldly charity

For famous, rich people, charity is now in vogue. I have nothing against this fashion, quite the contrary, perhaps it is the best of all existing ones and I support it. Only such good deeds done from selfish motives (the pursuit of fashion trends, the desire to look better in the eyes of others, fame, recognition) cannot be called sincere compassion. It cannot purify the soul and fill it with light.

Very rare individuals do not flaunt their good deeds. If a person is driven by such selfish motives, then let's say if they are not justified, if they are not glorified properly, then it is incomprehensible that he would have committed such a charitable act.

True compassion

True compassion comes from the depths of the heart, it inspires a person to do good deeds without demanding anything in return.

W.B.3.3.21

tikshavah karunikah

suhrdah sarva-dehinam

ajata-satravah santah

sadhavah sadhu-bhusanah

Sadhu is patient and merciful, he is the friend of all living beings. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, strictly follows the injunctions of the shastras and is endowed with all the virtues.

A sadhu is a deeply spiritual person who has dedicated his life to God and strives to give knowledge to others. And all the qualities of compassion, according to this verse, are fully manifested in him.

He is patient and merciful. He develops friendship for all living beings, which means that he is equally merciful to people and animals. Every living being in this world has the right to life. Such a person does not harbor enmity towards anyone, even if someone is hostile to him. When doing good deeds, the sadhu is patient, because often people do not appreciate his deeds. The true task of such a person is to save the souls of others, and not just the body. As one of the proverbs says: "What's the point in saving the clothes of a drowning man, if you need to save him himself."

Therefore, real compassion can only be fully enjoyed by highly spiritual personalities who are willing to sacrifice everything in order to give true knowledge and happiness to others. To bring other people closer to God, to give them the opportunity for spiritual progress.

It happens that a person wants to show his compassion, but as soon as his comfort zone is touched, all good intentions disappear. The conclusion in such a situation is obvious.

Video - a story from the ancient Vedic scriptures about compassion

Compassion for children and animals

Many people find it much easier to feel compassion for children and animals because their souls are pure and innocent. Unfortunately, it is impossible to help all the sick and homeless, but still a lot is in our power.

For example, you can refuse to eat meat, in this way you will show mercy and save a few innocent animals. One social organization calculated how much a person eats meat in his life: more than 1,000 chickens, a dozen pigs and cows. I became 12 years ago, thereby saving more than a hundred animals.

Compassion for other people

Many people have problems with compassion and empathy for their own kind. A projection comes to the fore, and unpleasant thoughts and arguments come into my head: “Why should I help someone, I have enough problems myself,” etc.

A fair summary of this story - a well-fed hungry does not understand.

How to Develop and Form Compassion

To begin with, I will try to explain why you need to form compassion in yourself.

Compassion makes our heart wider, and selfishness, on the contrary, narrows it.

When we have a “big” heart, then we have good relationships with others, we feel healthy and complete. And gradually our consciousness approaches God

As a result of selfishness, the heart narrows, illnesses and misfortunes come.

Our modern civilization ties a knot in the heart, for anyone if you look at all the tortured and unfortunate.

People without this quality manifest callousness and cruelty. Sincere feelings cannot enter into such a soul - neither joy nor love. When we empathize with others, our soul is cleansed and becomes more receptive to the world and spiritual knowledge.

As I have already said, it is easier to sympathize with someone else's grief when you have experienced a similar unpleasant event in your own skin.

The main key to developing compassion lies in spiritual self-improvement.

One of the barriers to compassion is self-centeredness. People are too fixated on their "I" and thoughts about their own good. At least once a day, try to practice empathy. Look at some person and ask yourself the question “What would I feel in his place?” It is best to do this during a conflict situation, thus you will complete 3 missions at once:

1. get distracted from your own negative feelings;
2. practice empathy;
3. soften the conflict.

The difference between pity and compassion

Now I will tell you the difference between pity and true compassion. There is a significant difference between these concepts. Pity is a destructive and destructive feeling, and compassion is bright and creative. Pity is inaction, but compassion provides help. Pity comes from the mind, and compassion from the heart.

Let's analyze this statement with an example. Imagine a seriously ill person. Relatives are sitting next to him, crying and pitying him. They already doom the patient and give him an inner message that he will not be able to cope with difficulties. Thus, they drive a person into an even greater abyss of misfortune, and he drops his hands.

Compassion carries creative energy and good spirits. A person who truly manifests this quality will not be inactive, he will provide all kinds of assistance and look for the best ways out of the situation. Vibrations filled with light and love come from such people, which in themselves have a beneficial effect on others and give them the strength to overcome difficulties.

These concepts have a rather vague definition, they cannot be measured quantitatively and qualitatively. One of these concepts is compassion. belongs to each of us. Let's figure out how to distinguish it from other feelings, and what good compassion is for a person's personality.

"What rain is to fire, compassion is to anger"

The feeling of compassion is something that each of us knows. As soon as a child begins to talk and learn about the world, he already experiences the whole range of sensations familiar to an adult. Of course, these emotions are many times stronger than the survivors experience.

The anger of the baby is strong, the love is boundless, and compassionate, he cries and longs to help. It is not known why people are able to experience sensations that are inaccessible to animals. The usual instincts of other representatives of the animal world cannot be compared with love, hatred, jealousy, pity. Perhaps all these manifestations of "humanity" are a great gift or voice of our soul. Compassion, then, is one of the strongest spiritual song melodies in our heart.

Compassion - what is it?

Let's try to describe what it's like When we see the pain of a familiar or unfamiliar person, this sight echoes in us with the voice of compassion. This is expressed in the desire to help, sympathize, console kind word or deed. Compassion is not a very pleasant feeling, since, without experiencing any physical or moral influence from the external environment, we nevertheless suffer. On the other hand, it is recognized as very virtuous for the spiritual development of a person.

What else expresses the feeling of compassion? It's not just understanding someone else's pain. It manifests itself in sensitivity to others, attention to their problems and experiences, and, of course, in help. Perhaps, the highest goal Compassion is precisely what we can do to help those in need. No matter how wealthy you are, they are eloquent. It is believed that to see a person in need of something is a sign for each of us, saying that he needs to help him with everything possible that we have.

Where does compassion come from?

This feeling is not new at all. Feelings of compassion - this is what arose along with love for others from the very beginning of the formation of a person as a person. A completely natural reaction of a normal person is to help someone who needs help. Much is said about compassion and the importance of developing this quality in oneself in all religions. Regardless of which god believers consider their own, everyone knows that compassion is absolutely right and good for the soul. And any religion prescribes to help those who are in need. We are talking not only about our relatives and friends, but also about complete strangers.

Compassion today

The modern world does not encourage compassion. However, it makes no sense to blame the world, those who live in it are to blame. From childhood, children are implanted with the idea that "either you or you", that you need to fight for a place in the sun. Let parents raise a child in love, but there is a school, teachers, peers, aggressive television and the Internet. According to many, conscience and compassion are rather atavisms that prevent us from living. full life. The little man very quickly understands how much he needs, and most often he does not have it. Compassion, on the other hand, prescribes sharing, giving away what you yourself supposedly lack. We say "allegedly" because if you are healthy and surrounded by the love of loved ones, then you have everything you need.

A new phone, branded clothes will never make you happy, no matter what the advertisement promises. But you can make a mother of a sick child, an old grandmother or orphans in an orphanage happier with a small personal contribution. But it is very difficult to understand and even more difficult to do.

Don't go to extremes

However, in addition to widespread callousness, there is also the reverse side of excessiveness in compassion - this is sorrow and despondency. There are people who, instead of being happy with what they have and sharing their happiness with others, are constantly in sadness. The feeling of compassion in them is hypertrophied. Such individuals see only grief around, and this plunges them into a state of chronic depression. Such a feeling does not bring anything useful for the development of the soul, but only harms. will not allow himself to be discouraged by simply being healthy. Therefore, compassion is useful only in its "pure" form.

The meaning of compassion

Why is compassion given to each of us by nature? What is this feeling good for us? The answer is obvious - no practical benefit in the form of accumulation of property, and at the same time a colossal "income" in the form of gratitude.

Agree that the best that each of us experiences cannot be measured in monetary terms. How much is friendship or love worth? Compassion also costs nothing (in fact, it is even fraught with "losses" from an economic point of view). However, having succumbed to this emotion and made a donation or talked to someone who feels bad, we feel some kind of bright excitement somewhere "in the soul." This is the wonderful feeling that gives meaning to the life of each of us.

Everyone needs compassion in one way or another. There are many situations in life that are difficult to cope with on your own and the true need of a person is the desire to share his emotional state with someone else. But, unfortunately, not everyone knows what compassion is. Some do not experience it at all, others simply do not know how to manifest it.

What is compassion really: 5 definitions after which your world will never be the same

Compassion, psychologists say, can be expressed in five terms:

• compassion is an expression of true love and understanding for one's neighbor;
• compassion is the ability to feel and alleviate the suffering of a person;
• compassion is respect for the experiences of others without diminishing their importance;
• compassion is an action for the benefit of another, sometimes even to the detriment of oneself;
• Compassion is the quality of a person who is capable of selfless help.

We looked into ourselves and sighed with relief: “Well, I’m all right with this!”? Do not rush to rejoice, perhaps you feel a sense of pity for people, and not compassion.

What is compassion and how does it differ from pity: you need to know this!

Sometimes people confuse compassion with pity. But if you delve into the meaning of these words, you will realize that they are absolutely opposite.

Imagine a seriously ill person and relatives grieving around him. What do you think they experience in this case? That's right, pity! With their moans and lamentations, they only aggravate the patient's condition. The negativity that they radiate does not help in any way, but on the contrary, it makes everyone around them depressed.

Another thing is compassion! Its essence is to alleviate the plight of the patient. A sincerely compassionate person understands that his mission is to distract the patient, to please, to help focus on something pleasant. Interestingly, often such an attitude can work wonders and heal from ailments.

Simply put, pity comes from the mind, and compassion comes from the soul. Pity destroys, but compassion heals. Pity is inaction, compassion is help. And only a truly generous person is capable of a sincere manifestation of compassion.

5 character traits of a person capable of compassion

To really feel what compassion is, you need to have such high qualities as:

Mercy.

A merciful person always tries to be positive and kind to everyone around him. The word "mercy" uses a combination of the two words "sweet" and "heart", and this characterizes this quality better than anything.

Shows of kindness can be different, but not always obvious. Kindness is an activity aimed at the benefit of another. Let's take a simple example. The child eats a lot of sweets. At the same time, one of the parents allows it, and the other does not. At the same time, it is not the first who shows kindness, as it may seem, but the second, who sincerely cares about the health of his child.

Therefore, kindness is not the inability to refuse, but sincere concern.

Respect.

Without respect, compassion is impossible. If a person does not respect others, he can only experience pity, while showing his superiority and condescension.

Respecting the pain and suffering of our neighbor, we are only able to feel them on ourselves and thereby alleviate them.

Patience.

Our kindness is not always appreciated and accepted. Sometimes people find it easier to accept the negative and believe the worst. But having patience, we only prove the disinterestedness of our help, and the belief that our actions will still be for the good.

Oh, how much is sung and written about this wonderful feeling! This concept is very multifaceted, and everyone puts their own meaning into it.

As for compassion, there is no question of it without love. to the neighbor guides all the good deeds that we do. Real love sees no barriers, so she is able to overcome what is beyond the power of the mind.

3 Common Manifestations for Compassion

Compassion can manifest itself in many different ways. For example, to their own kind, that is, to people, to animals or to the world as a whole. Each species has its own characteristics.

1. Secular charity: compassion or cheap farce?

Recently, it has become very fashionable among celebrities to participate in charity. In truth, of all popular trends, this fashion at least brings real benefits. Famous personalities, considering themselves socially responsible, should set a worthy example for their fans and encourage them to also help those in need.

It is sad to realize, but not for everyone this kind of compassion is sincere and comes from the heart. Many participate in such activities more to win love and popularity among those around them, making sure to flaunt every good deed they have done. I wonder how many of them would continue their charitable work if no one knew about it?

2. Compassion for children and animals: do not offend the weak!

Among all manifestations of compassion, it is easiest to “give” it to children and animals.

The best thing we can do for children is to give them love, lots of love. Thus, a strong foundation is laid for the full development of a small personality. To give them knowledge that is important for life is another task that is important for parents to set themselves.

As far as animals are concerned, an obvious example of compassion is vegetarianism. By refusing to eat animal products, you will save hundreds of living beings. The same applies to the rejection of natural fur products. The modern fashion industry offers a bunch of alternatives to this kind of clothing.

3. Compassion for "your neighbor": it's much more complicated than you thought

Many have difficulty expressing compassion for others. Then thoughts like “Why should I help? Nobody helps me!”, “I have my own problems”, “Go and work!”.

The conclusion from this story can be described by the well-known phrase - "The well-fed will not understand the hungry." This means that people are more willing to help those whose difficulties are close to them, in whose shoes they, so to speak, have been.

Compassion and empathy or the ability to feel emotions.

What is compassion and how not to confuse it with pity?

3 ways to learn what compassion is by example, or How to make the heart “not a stone”

A person capable of compassion has many advantages. First of all, having helped your neighbor, it is impossible not to feel your own significance and inner satisfaction. By doing a good deed, we move closer to the common good, making the world a better place. Knowing how to compassion, our heart becomes larger and filled with light, then it is easier for us to build relationships with others and live in general. But the most important thing is that sincere compassion is the best manifestation of love.

This feeling, unfortunately, is not familiar to everyone, but it can be brought up in oneself.

To understand what compassion is will help:

religion and spiritual literature.

In all religions of the world - from Christianity to Buddhism - it is said about the need to help one's neighbor. This quality is indispensable for a highly spiritual person. By reading spiritual literature, you can better understand the meaning of compassion through concrete examples;

charity.

As already mentioned, charity has become very popular among wealthy famous people. But an ordinary person can also join it and make their own, albeit small, contribution. If thousands of people give up just one cup of coffee and donate the money they save, it could save someone's life. Think about it!

A great way to learn to show compassion is to volunteer in boarding schools and hospitals. A piece of attention and love is so little and, at the same time, so much!

self-improvement and interest in people.

Selfishness leaves no room for understanding, respect and love for others. Focusing on our problems makes us indifferent to each other.

Try to develop and improve your personality, understand yourself and what is important to you in life. By understanding yourself, you will be able to be genuinely interested in others and strive to help them.

You can learn the right relationship with your neighbor all your life, but you can start showing your best qualities in small things today. Listening carefully to a friend's problems, giving up a seat on the bus to an elderly person, helping to carry a heavy package - all these are small manifestations of respect, kindness, mercy and compassion in general.

It is not in vain that connoisseurs of human souls say: having once learned what compassion is, you will never again be indifferent to others, because again and again you will want to experience that lightness, light and positiveness that gives help to your neighbor.

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With compassion - this word is familiar to many firsthand, but what compassion really is, as well as how it is understood in different cultures, we have to find out in this article.

What is compassion. The meaning of the word "compassion"

The meaning of the word “compassion” is often understood somewhat in the same way, namely, they consider compassion to be a synonym for the word “sympathy”, which, in general, is true, but only to the extent that by compassion we mean a typical, generally accepted concept of sympathy for another, for neighbor, and as a result - co-experience with his problems and misadventures.

In this case, we are talking exclusively about compassion / empathy at the level of emotions. "How else?" - asks the reader, brought up in the Western European cultural tradition, to which Russian culture also partially belongs. Also, do not forget that the Western European tradition is primarily a reliance on Christian values. Losing sight of this, we would make a big mistake, because no matter how much a person emphasizes his disbelief in higher powers and signs himself an atheist, nevertheless, his upbringing was influenced by a tradition based, one way or another, on Christian moral principles. values: kindness, decency, tolerance, sympathy, selflessness, etc.

You can continue to try to deny the fact that these factors influence the development of a person, but it is impossible to deny the obvious thing that we live in the space of a single information field, and at the moment it is much more understandable than before (with all the abundance of media platforms, social networks, the possibility of instant information transfer, etc.). Thus, the individual is always under the influence of another environment, another consciousness. At the same time, it is interesting to note that no matter how different the conditions of our formation and differences in social status may be, most of us are under the influence of a single information space, and, as we know, our chronology is counted from the Nativity of Christ, which says a lot.

Among our readers, perhaps, there are fans of the Slavic chronology. They turned to the more ancient heritage of Rus', and rightly so. But such turns in consciousness do not occur at the age of 10, when the psyche is flexible and can be influenced from outside, thus changing the value system that has not yet taken shape. Therefore, even such people, these new converts in adulthood, think in the paradigm in which they were brought up - in the Christian one.

For most of us, compassion is empathy or pity for another person's suffering. This is also component empathy. A person with a soul will sympathize, empathize with the misfortunes of another. This is natural and normal. But again, let us emphasize once again that by defining compassion in this way, we have not for a moment gone beyond the level of the emotional sphere. However, a person is not only emotions, although in our culture the opposition of intellect and feelings is very common. In fact, one does not exist without the other, and in psychological science this question is akin to the age-old debate about which came first: the chicken or the eggs. So it is in psychology: what is primary - emotion or intellect. Psychology does not give an objective answer to this question, since the students of this science are divided into a kind of "parties", each of which defends one side or another, and gives arguments in defense of its position. But the mystery has not been completely dispelled, because there is probably no mystery and there is no question about it, and the intellect and emotions relate to each other like two sides of the same coin, and it is incorrect to try to separate them to a certain extent. However, science loves to dissect, hence the similar search for "truth" there, the choice is impossible and not necessary. Let's turn to other sources, less scientific on the one hand, but having much more extensive experience in matters related to the study of various human states and studying in detail the consciousness of living beings, namely, we will turn to such a philosophical and religious teaching as Buddhism.

Compassion is the highest form of human existence

What does Buddhism tell us about this subject?

In Buddhism, the topic of compassion is considered very comprehensively, and it will probably be interesting to the reader to know that compassion at the level of feelings is only the first level of compassion on the scale accepted in modern Buddhism.

The second level of compassion, according to Buddhism, is related to phenomena. To explain this interpretation of compassion, it would be appropriate to introduce the reader to the fundamental concept of Buddhism: "dukkha" (suffering). All problems human life, one way or another, are explained by the presence of suffering in life, while suffering should again be understood not only as physical or psychological, but also as a whole the imperfection of the existing, its conditionality. Only overcoming through awareness of this conflict can get rid of dukkha.

The doctrine of dukkha is at the core of the Buddha's philosophy. It is called the teaching of Fr. Thus, the second level of compassion is directly related to the concept of dukkha, which can also be attributed to how we perceive the world, namely, through the prism of our ideas: we cannot see the true essence of things, and therefore the world in which we live , cannot be real. It is only a projection of our ideas and attitudes, which is why it is called an illusion. We, in fact, build this world ourselves, create the illusion ourselves and live in it. The realization of all this leads to the realization of dukkha.

However, there is also a third level of compassion, which goes beyond not only the individual-human, but also the field of phenomena, and leads us to the so-called objectless, not directed at anything compassion. It sounds paradoxical, but it is the case. It is almost impossible to tell about the third, and most important, compassion in words, because words will involuntarily send us to the area of ​​the intellectual-emotional, but we should go beyond this area, namely, go to the transcendental area, i.e. to the place where the concepts of good and evil do not exist, into the area where duality ends and, consequently, the attraction of samsara stops, and we are very close to nirvana (nibbana) - psychological freedom and moksha.

Now let's look at how compassion and its connection with wisdom are viewed in different branches of Buddhism. Just like in Christianity, there is no unity of views in Buddhism, therefore, the once unified direction of Buddhism is currently represented by many branches, three of which are the most famous and directly related to the teachings of compassion and wisdom, and therefore paid the most attention to explaining this state. These are Theravada or Hinayana Buddhism (“Little Vehicle”), Mahayana Buddhism (“Great Vehicle”) and Vajrayana Buddhism, more common in Tibet and otherwise referred to as “Diamond Way Buddhism”. Three Buddhist methods - we will call them so, because in general they differ from each other precisely by the method, but they have one goal - the liberation of a person from samsara and the achievement of moksha (freedom).

Compassion in Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana

We will start with Theravada. Theravada or Hinayana, as the most ancient branch of Buddhism as a religion, considers the issue of compassion along with wisdom. However, for Hinayana Buddhists, compassion is not a separate path; to a certain extent, it is included in the concept of wisdom. Again, it must be said that wisdom should not be understood as applied knowledge or knowledge in general from the point of view of ordinary life.

We are talking about wisdom as the comprehension of the truth that stands above the reality of human life in its physical manifestation. We come to the question of working with consciousness and its switching to another level, where consciousness ceases to identify itself not only with the physical aspect of existence, including the intellect and emotions, but also completely disidentifies with the self or what they used to call the ego, "I".

Thus, compassion is not an independent line or path towards Theravada, but rather immanent in the concept of wisdom, which is presented as the highest goal on the path to nirvana.

Mahayana, with its less rigorous approach, which to some extent could be described as more accessible to practice by adepts, on the contrary, quite clearly states that compassion, along with wisdom, are the main paths in the practice of Buddhism. The path of compassion is not related to wisdom, it is understood as a separate path, and it is equal to wisdom.

Why does the Mahayana attach so much importance to compassion? Because, according to this tradition, the Buddha is not the only one who achieved enlightenment. Before him, there were many arhats who were able to know the truth, wisdom, but the Buddha has something that the arhats did not have: compassion. In the same way, people who embarked on the path of enlightenment (bodhichitta) and those who achieved it, but wished to stay and not go to nirvana, in order to help the remaining, unconscious individuals to get rid of dukkha (suffering) and also achieve liberation, are such people called bodhisattvas. , first of all, they practice the very third kind of compassion, transpersonal, standing above duality and allowing equally to sympathize with both those who have done good and those who have done evil.

For bodhisattvas it is one. There is not much difference between positive and negative. The difference exists from the point of view of an ordinary person, because he is used to being guided by two categories, he is used to living in a world of duality, which first of all indicates the imperfection of the evaluation system of the person himself, his vision (it is more of an illusion), and in no way measure cannot be a measure of the truth of the state of things and the world order.

In this case, such an expression, first expressed by St. Augustine: "Teach out of love for others, and learn out of love for the truth." It should not be surprising that a similar concept is quite applicable to Buddhism. It is precisely this that applies primarily to Buddhism, because Buddhism does not divide. He teaches to see things "as they are", their unity and interconnectedness, interdependence, since there are no things in the whole world that are independent of each other. From here we see a connection with such a concept as shunyata (emptiness), but not physical emptiness, but emptiness in the understanding of liberation from something. The Buddha taught the dharma out of compassion in the highest sense of the word (of course, not out of pity for humanity, which, of course, could be, but then the role of teacher would no longer be the Buddha).

In the Vajrayana tradition, great importance is attached to intrinsic factors, since it is believed that wisdom and compassion are innate qualities of a person, connecting him with the “Buddha nature”. Buddha nature is pure, just like human nature, because man, by definition, is the Buddha in the future, the potential Buddha. The direction of the Vajrayana believes that unconditional positive characteristics, such as boundless compassion and wisdom, are inherent in a person, so you don’t even need to cultivate them, because they already exist in their pure form. The point is to clear them of layers, to allow them to manifest, to realize them. The concept of compassion is connected with awareness, because compassion itself is an inherent and inherent sign of awareness and awakening. Once the mind is freed from the concepts of "I", compassion manifests itself.

So, we have considered three schools of Buddhism, and each of them approaches the interpretation of compassion in a different way. One thing remains unchanged, that compassion is not understood in terms of the sphere of feelings. Secondly, compassion of the 3rd level, where we have gone beyond the dual interpretation of existence, always goes along with wisdom and the achievement of nirvana (psychological freedom). Compassion of the highest, unconditioned level is to some extent a characteristic of enlightenment and transition to nirvana.

Instead of a conclusion

In this article, we briefly covered the topic of compassion as it is understood in Buddhism. In order for readers to understand the topic in its entirety, we recommend that you read other materials on the topic of Buddhism in the future, as this will allow you to study the context in which the topic of compassion we have considered is located.

The article uses information from a book by a well-known researcher of Buddhism and the Vedas.