Lessons from God

Compassion: Caring Without Attachment

One of the most powerful emotions of the Heart is compassion.  Compassion is often thought of as an emotion that only a Divine being is capable of feeling and expressing.  For example, Quan Yin (Kuan Yin) is called the Chinese Goddess of Compassion.  There are also statues expressing the energies of the Compassionate Buddha.

Does this mean that you and I are incapable of experiencing compassion from within?  Must we receive it from a Divine source?  Or are we a Divine Being also capable of feeling and expressing compassion?

The truth is that we are each capable of compassion.  But just what exactly is this quality?

One dictionary defines compassion as “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.” 

I would agree that compassion involves sympathy, but it also includes empathy.  Sympathy means to have a similar feeling as another – to vibrationally resonate with what someone is feeling.  Empathy, on the other hand, means to actually share the feeling that another is experiencing.

The magic of compassion is that it enables us to share what another is feeling without being in judgment about it.  It also enables us to help another without being attached to the outcome of their situation.

How does compassion allow us to do this? 

Compassion is a very high spiritual vibration or energy.  To truly be compassionate, one must also allow the other to make their own decisions and live with the consequences of those decisions.  Compassion does not mean that we try to fix someone else or someone else’s life.  We might offer to be helpful.  We might respond when asked for assistance.  We might offer suggestions and support.  But we must always allow the other to choose for him/herself.

Compassion works through Divine Love.  Divine Love – Love Without Conditions – means that we can love someone without requiring anything of that person.  We hold the individual in our heart regardless of what they say, what they do, what they feel, and what they choose to experience.

When we can do this, we can also compassionately sympathize and empathize with them and with their situation.  But it does not mean that we become compelled to try to fix the situation.  Compassion does not resonate with rescuing.  (Check for an upcoming blog on the subject of “rescuing.”)

When we are compassionate, we can be fully present for the person in this moment.  We can listen to their words and their emotions without having to take any action.  Because we are fully present with them in the current moment of their pain, sorrow, or whatever the person is feeling, we provide a space that allows the individual to feel and possibly express their feelings. 

As the person expresses their feelings in the presence of compassion, the individual often begins to let some of the feeling go and a sense of relief arises.  Someone has heard them.  Someone cares about how they feel.  Someone is not judging them, and thus is giving them the space to just be in the moment, to just be whoever they are in that moment.

Often people feel very isolated.  Some people truly are isolated.  They may be street people or they may just live alone.  Today, we can be alone in a crowd.  We can feel isolated at a party.  Just making eye contact and giving someone a smile can be an expression of compassion when the eye contact and the smile are connected with the Heart energy of compassion.

Today, you might ask yourself these questions: 

• How can I be more compassionate towards the people I know?
• How can I express compassion for someone I don’t know personally?
• How can I make compassion a part of my daily life?

Of course, you can also be compassionate towards yourself, but that’s another discussion for another day.

Nedda