Compassion

by Ringu Tulku Rinpoche

Each one of us has a different personality, culture, language, or history but these are only a thin layer on the surface of our consciousness. At a deeper level, we are all alike. We all wish to be treated kindly and spared from suffering. The basis of compassion is realising that other sentient beings want to be safe and happy just as we ourselves do. They have the same fears and sorrows. They too are suffering from unfavourable conditions and need our help. When we really understand this, the misfortune of any other being becomes troublesome to us. We feel bound to try and ease whatever pain we can: for ourselves, for the people we love, for everyone.

This aspiration to do something to assist is the essence of compassion. In Buddhism, our concern for all sentient beings is also based on the conviction that they have been our mothers in past lives. They have made great sacrifices, nurturing and protecting us. Their previous devotion gives us a powerful sense of gratitude and a determination to protect them now in return.

The compassion we cultivate in the Lojong training has immediate, far-reaching, and positive results. It purifies more negativity than we can ever imagine. Helping all sentient beings may seem like an impossible aim at first but as compassion grows in our thoughts, it progressively influences our outward behaviour and brings us and others tremendous advantages.

Acknowledging suffering in a much broader way reduces our pride and our egotism. We are not so defensive and touchy about our own welfare. This makes us less fearful and clinging. Sharing and letting go of things is easier. When our actions are motivated by kindness instead of self-interest, there is more chance of receiving positive treatment in return. Relationships are warmer. People can respect and depend on us because we are more receptive and understanding.

It is not difficult to feel sorry for someone who is in trouble but it can seem almost impossible to rejoice for them when they are happy and doing well. If we are sincere about trying to help all beings, the success of someone else is good news. It makes our work lighter. It is one less duty for us. The advantages that other people have do not endanger our chances of success. There is always enough to go around. Feeling competitive is not necessarily harmful but it diverts us from setting our own targets and doing our utmost to reach them.

The story of a merchant who attended the Buddha’s teachings gives us the right idea. Annatabindika was a very rich man but he found it almost impossible to part with his wealth. He arrived each day to hear about compassion until one day he asked to speak to the Buddha. He said that he enjoyed the talks very much but generosity was impossible for him. He felt a great pain if he gave the smallest gift. He asked how he could conquer this difficulty. The Buddha had a very practical answer. He told the merchant to exercise being generous to himself first by taking a coin in one hand and transferring it to the other hand, back and forth, over and over again. With practice, he would grow accustomed to giving. The merchant tried this, passing a coin from one hand to the other for some time until he found his problem had gradually disappeared. In the end, he became one of the most charitable of the Buddha’s students, donating houses to the homeless, hospitals for the sick, and opening kitchens for destitute wanderers.

Spiritual understanding does not come from saying, “I am going be compassionate now!” and rushing around giving people whatever they want. Compassion can only be achieved gradually, step-by-step. Being generous in very small ways, offering a bowl of food and sharing it gladly without any regrets, is a good beginning. A compassionate and unselfish attitude is the starting point for generating the compassionate energy that we need to work directly against suffering in our concrete actions and deeds. The Buddha’s teachings were almost entirely about developing this selfless compassion: not just feeling nice towards others or giving things away but wishing for every single being to be free from suffering.

The Jataka Tales are a collection of stories describing many of the Buddha’s previous lives and illustrating how, throughout these incarnations, he lived by the principle of compassion. One of the stories tells of his rebirth in a terrible, hot hell. With a companion he was being forced to drag an unbearably heavy cart across a fiercely burning ground. A hell-being beat them and drove them on. They were both in torment and near death. Seeing that his companion was suffering needlessly, the Buddha appealed for him to be set free from this hopeless task. This demonstrates the purest and deepest compassion.