THE CULTIVATION OF COMPASSION

 "Compassion is a mind that has the only taste of mercy towards all sentient beings"

Nagarjuna

  Cultivate compassion (in Sanskrit "karuna"). It will be beneficial for you. Feeling compassion for someone, even for just a few minutes, gives you incredible peace.

Compassion, like loving-kindness, must be directed on a small scale to a few and on a large scale to the whole of society. Compassion is for our relatives and relatives and for all beings in the Universe.

However, there are some difficulties in developing compassion in all its fullness and possibilities. It's hard to feel compassion because we have so many concepts that keep us closed. We are focused on work, on our daily concerns, on ourselves. We are focused on our inner self. This has become a reality; it is a habit, with the force of habit. We even believe that selfishness protects us, but it is not. It is a false belief. How to change this belief? Opening our hearts to other beings, valuing them, understanding and forgiving their defects and mistakes.

In our daily life we have to solve many problems and setbacks. These adverse situations produce in us: rejection, displeasure, dissatisfaction. All this comes up frequently and we get tired. Our mind ends up weakening. The antidote for many negative emotions and tiredness is compassion and love.

In the development and practice of compassion, intellectual study will help you. Reading Buddhist texts will guide you properly in this task. And, of course, the teachings and guidance given by good teachers will be helpful and very useful.

Masters adore compassion, pay homage to it, and prostrate themselves before it. Compassion is beneficial to everyone and to the entire Universe. The meaning of any virtue is that it benefits others without causing them any harm. No harm, that's right. Everything beneficial is rooted in compassion. We can worship compassion and extol it; it is necessary to develop our enthusiasm towards compassion. Let her inspire us.

Thanks to compassion and love, negative emotions such as aversion, resentment or sadness, even if they arise in your heart, will not impact your mind, that is, they will pass without leaving a trace.

Compassion can be defined as a process that is born in response to the suffering or discomfort of others. It begins with the recognition of suffering and then gives way to thoughts of empathy (putting yourself in the other's place) and feelings of warmth and love for those who suffer. This in turn stimulates the desire to alleviate or remedy the suffering of the other.

In Spanish the word compassion comes from the Latin word com-pati, "to suffer with." The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy defines compassion as the "feeling of commiseration and pity that one has towards those who suffer hardships and misfortunes".

In Buddhism, compassion is the wish that others be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. It is based on valuing the feelings of others, it includes empathy and interest in the other and also the desire and responsibility to do something that can benefit or improve the situation of the other.

In these explanations about compassion we cannot forget the figure of the "bodhisattva". For Mahayana Buddhism, the "bodhisattva" is someone who, having cultivated the "bidhichitta" (aspiration to awakening) helps other beings to channel themselves on the path of awakening. It represents the ideal of wisdom and compassion. The "bodhisattva" is the being that is defined by its intention to eliminate the suffering of all beings.

A good understanding of the interrelation that exists between human beings will help foster compassion. We must understand that the interpersonal relationship is basic in our life. We naturally relate to each other. Our egoism is focused in a way clearly contrary to the basic nature of our existence. If we understand the fundamental fact that we interrelate mentally and physically, we will seek harmony and concord in coexistence.

The happiness of others is our happiness. The suffering of others is our suffering. Because we are closely related to each other. What is a beneficial factor for others is beneficial for me. What is a harmful factor for others is harmful for me. By valuing and respecting other beings, we also benefit.

Being understanding and cooperating with others is a factor for peace to arise in our hearts. Let's think about it carefully until we understand it well. Begin to feel interested in compassion and universal love. When we are interested in universal goodness, depression, envy, hatred, anger, etc. are quickly transformed.

Meditation on the theme of compassion is highly recommended. We must continually meditate on kindness, compassion to dissolve selfishness, envy and personal conflicts. The goal is to try to cleanse and purify our ego, negativity, by meditating on compassion.

A compassionate attitude will help us a lot to resolve interpersonal conflicts. If someone is against you and we don't generate hate, if we don't feel annoyed, our opponent will eventually get tired. In these cases, we should not abandon meditation on compassion. It is good to understand the emotions of the people with whom we fight.

Basically that person, who we see as a rival or adversary, is also looking for happiness, just like me. Putting yourself in the place of the other with whom we argue is very useful as it gives us a new perspective. When we are in a conflict with another, it is convenient to see the emotions that arise (anger, hostility, desire for revenge...) as temporary mental factors. They will not always be there. Also, the ego likes to impose its opinions and always be right. This makes arguments worse. Our opinion is only an opinion.

We get upset in a dispute because we haven't gotten what we want. The other also has his wishes, let's keep that in mind. We must calm down the discussions, if we succeed, peace will emerge. Fights and arguments create disharmony in the field of friendship, work or family. This will make it harder to feel compassion.