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Nature, Origins and Developments of Compassion: Perspectives from a Buddhist Understanding

Thupten Jinpa, PhD Stanford University/ McGill University

The Science of Compassion, Telluride, Colorado, 19-21 July 2012


What is Compassion?   Compassion

(karuna, nyingje) is a mental state – endowed with a sense of concern – that focuses on another being and wishes for that being to be relieved of suffering.


  Affective

or emotional component – a feeling of concern   Cognitive component – perception of other’s suffering   Motivational component – wishing to see that suffering relieved   Modern

researchers on compassion speak of three elements of compassion: 1) noticing other’s suffering, 2) empathically feeling the person's pain, and 3) acting to ease the suffering


What compassion is not?  Compassion

is not pity (near enemy)  Compassion is not attachment  Compassion is not the same as empathic feeling of other s pain  Compassion is not simply a wishful thinking  Compassion is not conditional  Compassion is not self-regarding


Key elements of a standard Buddhist compassion cultivation practice •

Cultivating deeper sensitivity to and understanding of the nature of suffering, especially its causal dynamics, first in relation to one s own experience

Cultivating equanimity, especially the recognition of the fundamental equality of self and others insofar as the basic disposition to wish for happiness and the wish to overcoming of suffering is concerned

Cultivating a perception of others as dear, as objects worthy of our concern;


Key elements of a standard Buddhist compassion cultivation practice, contd. • 

The cultivation of such a perception involves two elements: (i) cultivating a deep sense of interconnectedness and identification with others, on the basis of recognizing our shared basic nature as well as the intertwining nature of self and other s welfare

(ii) on this basis, developing a sense of gratitude towards and appreciation of others In the field of equanimity, with loving kindness as moisture, the seed of compassion grows into a tree of true altruism.


Some basic points of the Buddhist understanding of compassion • The capacity to feel for other s suffering is inborn • This capacity is an essential aspect of our basic

nature as sentient creatures • Through cultivation we can learn to feel compassion for a much wider circle of concern than we normally do in our natural setting • The heart of such cultivation practices must include developing sensitivity to other s suffering, a cognitive process that seeks to make one feel deeply connected with this wide circle of beings, and learning to wish to see them relieved of their suffering • The highest form of compassion transcends all boundaries and embraces all sentient beings within its sphere of concern


Some open questions 

  

If, as Buddhism suggests, it s possible to cultivate of compassion for all beings, how can we understand “the compassion collapse” phenomenon? Does compassion arise always through the empathy route? Can compassion arise, especially through cultivation, without going through this route? How might this question relate to the problem of compassion fatigue ? When compassion arises for another person or others, is it the case that one s sense of self expands to include others within it, or is it the case that one s sense of self ceases within that state? If compassion promotes a greater sense of well-being, is this because it provides a respite from self-focus, or is there something intrinsically beneficial about caring for others? Can one phenomenologically, experimentally, and neurally distinguish between pro-social behaviors motivated by attachment, by sense of duty, by sense of fairness, and by compassion?


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