A slice of compassion

I say a slice because its a big cake and can be looked at from a myriad of angles. to begin with, I would say rather than knowing what the word is about its more a case of direct experience, which for some people is very difficult if not impossible. In some cases the one who experiences compassion for another, actually experiences what the other is going through in a more condensed way. When an individual person experiences pain and strife over a long period of time, there is a natural tendency to blot is out, or minimize it. This means although they have awareness of what is happening, but do their best in whatever way or manner to not feel it or brake away from that life experience. So when one experiences true compassion one feels a condensed version of the experience of another and compassion arises. Specially, even more so if the person is unaware of the current life experience they are travelling through. At least for me, it triggers an enormous boom of compassion.
As compassion is released in to any given life situation, the remedy is injected in to the sphere of that person and my suspicion is that is a new ingredient that can of benefit for any who are trapped and are looking for a way out. So if you do experience compassion, just let it go. Its available as a remedy for those who wish to jump out of the experience. For those who don’t, its not seen and doesn’t meddle with that game/illusion or whatever you would like to call it.
Eliberocelta 19.6. 2015
Any other members care to add a slice of compassion to the thread it would be appreciated.

a reply to: ancientthunder

which for some people is very difficult if not impossible

Here, Thunder, I think you may have lit upon a core conundrum of our human condition.
I do not know if compassion is a default condition within the human mind. That is if it just comes naturally. To some degree it may, I don't know. If it does it may not come naturally to all of us, maybe only a portion of us and then most probably in varying degrees. I don't know.

I do think though that compassion can be developed. If one has that spark already, it can be widened and used to open a pathway to a fuller experience and expression of what being human can be. It often hurts.

I see compassion as an ability to see oneself,or rather to ask oneself how would I feel were I undergoing the tribulations of another. In a sense here, there is a sharing of that tribulation. While the person who is undergoing the tribulation is often mired within the tribulation and can find no way out, can find no solution to the situation, the compassionate one may be able to not only experience that tribulation, but also being once removed from from it, see more clearly a way out and in doing so may be able to help that person to emerge from their emotional prison.

Should this happen, if this happens, this experience of sharing might spark the compassion in the others. And maybe not. Certainly there are those who have had little compassion expressed towards them and may never really know that it is a potential within them also.

I have a sneaking suspicion that these people may be people who use the term "bleeding heart" when describing people who base their lives on compassion. My sneaking suspicion extends to considering that these 'compassionately challenged' people can extend their concerns outward from themselves to possibly their own families, and maybe some of their friends but not much further, though this is at this point only a suspicion.

In this light, I suspect that what these folk might see in compassion is a loss of self, or rather the breaking down of the strongly held boundaries they have held between themselves and , (well, I'm just gonna jump to existentialism here,) chaos. By engaging in this act of compassion as you suggest above, I think that those locked within those temporary boundaries which help nurture a developing consciousness may, if they are strong enough within themselves, see their way out into the larger whole.

I hope I have managed to add to your thoughts here and not to have jumped off into my own wonderland of spastically considered speculations.

a reply to: [post=19468227]TerryMcGuire[/postthanks for joining in and giving that cake a go, which was what I was wishing for but it looks like nobody dares or nobody cares to share a slice. Its a real tiptoe subject! It a hard subject to talk about and not put your foot in it! best amigo AT

a reply to: ancientthunder

Empathy is a learned trait and in short order in today's world. I have learned this simple truth first hand as the older I get the more empathy I have for others and in general. I try and understand the meaning behind actions instead of just judging the action itself. Some would call this getting weak but the feeling I get is far from weakness when I empathize.

originally posted by: SubTruth
a reply to: ancientthunder

Empathy is a learned trait and in short order in today's world. I have learned this simple truth first hand as the older I get the more empathy I have for others and in general. I try and understand the meaning behind actions instead of just judging the action itself. Some would call this getting weak but the feeling I get is far from weakness when I empathize.

I don't have much empathy, but I do remind myself
that I don't know what I don't know. That keeps me
humble, and that is almost as good...

Compassion is a sure sign of a strong person.

Sadly, there aren't many strong people left in the world. There are too many who view compassion as weakness. The pursuit of self has become the rallying cry of a generation.

a reply to: ancientthunder

Thank you for posting this.

I have to go back and read it again, and maybe again.

I think I get what your saying, but I have to think about it some more.