T

7.

Compassion: Something We Want to

Become

oo much self-centered thinking is the source of suffering. A
compassionate concern for others’ well-being is the source of
happiness,” the Dalai Lama had said earlier in the week. He was now
rubbing his hands together in thought as we returned to the topic of
compassion. “On this planet, over the last three thousand years, different
religious traditions developed. All these traditions carry the same
message: the message of love. So the purpose of these different traditions
is to promote and strengthen the value of love, compassion. So different
medicine, but same aim: to cure our pain, our illness. As we mentioned,
even scientists now say basic human nature is compassionate.” Both he
and the Archbishop had emphasized that this compassionate concern for
others is instinctual and that we are hardwired to connect and to care.
However, as the Archbishop explained earlier in the week, “It takes time.
We are growing and learning how to be compassionate, how to be caring,
how to be human.” The Buddha supposedly said, “What is that one thing,
which when you possess, you have all other virtues? It is compassion.”
It is worth taking a moment to think about what compassion really
means, since it is a term that is often misunderstood. Jinpa, with the help
of colleagues, created the Compassion Cultivation Training at the Center
for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford
University School of Medicine. In his marvelous book A Fearless Heart:
How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives, he
explains: “Compassion is a sense of concern that arises when we are
confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to see that
suffering relieved.” He adds, “Compassion is what connects the feeling of