LIFE – Let It Flow Easy!!
The literal meaning of Compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. It originates from the Latin word compati which means to “suffer with”. In Buddhism, compassion is often referred to as loving kindness and the practice involves
– being compassionate towards self
– being compassionate towards family and friends
– being compassionate towards acquaintances
– being compassionate towards all other beings including animals, flora and fauna
This is also referred to as the circle of our life. With “I” being at the very center, the next circle of our life is that of family, the next relatives, friends, the next circle is that of colleagues, acquaintances, the next circle is of all other beings, including animals, flora and fauna, the next being that of the entire universe. For most of us, the intensity of our connection keeps reducing as we progress along each circle. Which means that I am the most important person to myself, then my family is important, then my friends, and so on and so forth and by the time we come to strangers or environment or the universe, we are already disconnected from the center. And thus it becomes difficult or literally impossible to feel the pain or suffering of someone we don’t even know – which is why millions of children dying of hunger is ok, poaching and killing of animals is ok, the way we are polluting our environment through mindless consumerism is ok.
However, as a beginner on the journey of practicing self awareness, understanding and practicing compassion brings a lot of confusion. We often think that compassion makes us weak, soft, it would give people the license to walk all over us, take us for granted, treat us like a door mat, being sympathetic towards other people’s suffering would be emotionally draining, or more questions pop up in our head – are we supposed to help other people irrespective of our situation, do we keep our self pride aside and bend our back, how can we help save the environment when we are throwing bombs, or burning forests or dumping plastic in the ocean, are we supposed to feel guilty and shameful for not living up to the standards of compassionate living? Interestingly, it is not just limited to this. As one progresses along the path of practicing loving kindness, one would also often hear from family or friends, how can you be angry, or get upset, or lose patience especially since you are on the path of practicing self awareness or meditation?
It wasn’t any different for me – for I continue to be subjected to those remarks or judgements or labels especially from near and dear ones whenever I strongly voice my opinion or express my discomfort or choose to act in a certain way. But the Big blessing has been the wisdom shared by my teacher, for he had me well prepared. He said “be prepared, for the world will have all their ideas of how people on this journey should behave, carry themselves, say things and act, be prepared for their so called disappointments and comments of and for you. But if you can truly understand and practice compassion, then all those labels that people would want to stick on you, wouldn’t stick, as the walls of your heart would have become smooth enough“.
Compassion is about acceptance. It is about acceptance with love for who we are at any given point in time, who others are with their level of awareness at any given point in time. It is about non resistance, not fighting duality. It is about communicating with love. And as we progress along the journey, our connection with all the circles start deepening. With compassion gradually the sense of separation starts dissolving. This is what Jesus meant when he said “Love thy neighbour as thyself”
Compassion is about knowing that we all are like mirrors – and every single mirror has the potential to reflect/ shine irrespective of the layer of dust (which is nothing but the degree of ignorance). And practicing self awareness with total acceptance of what is, is the very cloth that helps in wiping the dust off.
Practicing compassion on the contrary gives us power and strength. It is the doorway to freedom. Practicing compassion doesn’t mean that we become submissive or weak. It just means that we do not take anything personally. There is a beautiful story in the Vedic mythology which explains compassionate living. And it goes like this…
“Once in small village lived a snake who used to attack and kill village animals. Villagers wanted to respect all creatures but they hated that snake because snake was not just attacking animals but now it also attacked the villagers children.
All the villagers wanted to kill snake. So one day all of them gathered on the field and started shouting and drumming and with stones and sticks started to search for that snake.
A holy man who used to live on out skirts of that village heard all the sound and came to village and asked, “What is this all about??”
The villagers told him about the snake and his acts. After listening to all, the holy man replied, “If this snake does not attack your children or hunt your animals then will you think about sparing its life??”
Some villagers wanted revenge but some just wanted to get rid of snake, so they agreed.
The holy man entered the field and with his powers commanded the snake to come and it came crawling to the feet of the holy man.
The snake hissed. The holy man replied, “There is enough food in jungle and you need not to attack animals or children of village for this.”
There was kindness in the holy man’s voice and the snake didn’t hissed but just nodded and promised that it will not ever again attack villagers.
Soon villagers discovered that the snake would no longer harm anyone but there were some villagers who wanted to take revenge from that snake for whatever he did in the past. So the villagers started attacking that snake. It would have to hid itself to keep safe.
One day the snake heard the holy man walking by and with it’s weak body it slithered to the holy man.
Seeing its condition the holy man asked, “What happened to you?”
The snake replied, “After I promised not to bite anyone some villagers started to attack me and I had to hid myself under the rock to keep myself safe from their attacks. Why is this happening to me?”
Holy man stood silently and then in low voice replied, “You are such a fool! You don’t know how to protect yourself. I asked you not to bite but I didn’t forbid you to hiss. Why didn’t you scare them by hissing?”
The snake understood his mistake and slithered away hissing.”
Don’t be afraid to practice compassion. Hiss when you have to. It is the doorway to power and freedom.
