Compassion: The End Of Suffering…
“Compassion is the external expression of the love we feel inside…” Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Devī (Amma)
Compassion: The End Of Suffering… The Good Samaritan
When love becomes divine love, compassion also fills the heart. Love is the inner feeling and compassion is its expression. Compassion is expressing your heartfelt concern for someone — for a suffering human being. Therefore, love and compassion are two sides of the same coin; they coexist. Amma
What would end human suffering? greed? conflict? inequity? If we consider Amma’s words, it makes sense that compassion is a key factor to ending suffering; treating ourselves and others with loving consideration. If every time we want to do something selfish, mean or inconsiderate, we stop and consider the havoc our actions will wreck, most of us would act with more sensitivity. One of the many factors behind the economic downturn was the excess that occurred during the real estate boom. When the market tanked, we found out how greed, lies and misappropriation of financial instruments contributed to our predicament. Imagine how different the outcome would have been if all operated from a place of compassion.
“True worship of God is rendering help to those who are suffering.” Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Devī
Compassion: The End Of Suffering… Amma feeding the elephant named Lakshmi
A Man’s Story: “A man went to his doctor because he was feeling poorly. After the consultation, the doctor called the man’s wife into into his office and said, “Your husband is very sick and unless you do the following, he will die.” What must I do? She asked. ” Every day pamper him, cook all his favorite meals, never criticize his actions, smile a lot, love him without complaint, praise him, indulge his wishes, make sure all his needs are met and he won’t die.” Thanking the doctor, she left with her husband. On the way home, the man asked his wife, “What did the good doctor say to you?” Oh, she said, “he told me you are definitely going to die!”
“Compassion does not see the faults of others. It does not see the weaknesses of people. It makes no distinction between good and bad people. Compassion cannot draw a line between two countries, two faiths or two religions. Compassion has no ego; thus there is no fear, lust or passion. Compassion simply forgives and forgets. Compassion is like a passage. Everything passes through it. Nothing can stay there. Compassion is love expressed in all its fullness.” Amma
Amma shared the man’s story above in her talk on Tuesday. A spirit of compassion is an important quality to have; it means that we would never wish to hurt another soul. When we treat each other with disregard, without any compassion, the result is like the one above. The wife had no interest in changing her ways and if we act the same way towards others, we contribute to the suffering. Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Devī, known affectionately as Amma the hugging saint, is visiting Manhattan, at the Jacob Javits Center, and offering teachings and free hugs to all who need one. She leaves after the program ends early Thursday morning. More below
“To be able to put oneself in another’s position, to be able to see and to feel as another person does, this is the rare gift of an earnest spiritual seeker.” Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Devī
Compassion: The End Of Suffering… Remove the mask of suffering
“There are three types of people in this world. There are those who have nothing; then there are those who are just scraping by; and the third type are those who have far more than they need. Now, if those who belong to the third category don’t do anything to help those of the first two categories, then Amma would say that those who belong to the third category, who are supposed to be rich, are, in fact, the poorest of the poor. Those who have far more than they need should have eyes with which to see the suffering of others; they should have ears to hear the distressed calls for help; they should have a loving heart with which to feel compassion towards those who suffer, and they should have willing hands with which to lend their assistance to those in need.” Amma
No matter where we fit on that list of three types, we can always add our bit to the conversation with compassion and an open heart. What about you? What are your thoughts? How would you define compassion? What pulls you to the subject? What do you think would end all human suffering? What lessons about compassion has your life taught you? Do share! Thank you. 😉
*Please bear with me as I catch up on your blogs and commenting… I‘m still recovering from a cold and will be back on track with reading and responding to your blogs by Thursday. Thank you all for your patience! 🙂
Positive Motivation Tip: May we share our compassion with all who need it and add our voice to the campaign to end human suffering.
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos from my personal collection
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
Related articles
- Kindness to Oneself. (elephantjournal.com)
- Reflections: Embrace the Light… (eof737.wordpress.com)
- How can we work for a more peaceful world? (kemeticfederation.wordpress.com)
- Closer to Compassion Part 1: Why Do We Need Compassion? (psychologytoday.com)
- You do not attract what you want; you attract what you are. So make compassion be what you are. (positive-thoughts.typepad.com)
- My First Time Meeting Amma, “The Hugging Saint”, in New Mexico (gettingatwhatmatters.wordpress.com)
- Hugs Heal More Than Spirit (2voices1song.com)
To end the suffering of the world is almost impossible, I think. And compassion is one thing, but doing your best to make someone’s life easier or better, is another. And that’s something that I try to do every day at work.
Good. Keep doing your best… that is what we need in our world, more compassionate acts of kindness towards each other…
Everybody’s struggling with something – if we bear this in mind when we start the day perhaps we will find ourselves being a little more compassionate towards others
True… It is easy to forget that fact when we struggle over stuff… Great perspective.
What a fantastic post and Amma sounds wonderful.I have struggled all my life (even as a child) trying to understand the ‘why?’ of suffering and how this fits with the notion of a loving God or deity. It is such a hard thing to figure out. I don’t mean my own suffering – I mean the kind of terrible suffering I hear about or read about or see in others.
I am still having WP problems so am reconnecting to your blog via the reader
I do hope you reach out to WP Support so they can resolve your problem. TY for your comment and it is a subject that I’ve considered for a long time too.
Yes, the world needs a lot more compassion. But it must be tempered with common sense. The housing crisis you refer to was in part caused by too much compassion from our elected officials in Washington. Feeling compassion for those who wished home ownership but couldn’t afford it, they changed the rules so just about everyone with any type of income could purchase a home well out of their reach, foolishly thinking the boom would continue (Booms never do) and if the poor souls couldn’t make their payments, then no one, least of all the taxpayers would not lose money if the home was foreclosed upon. The upshot? Out of compassion, they left a trail of destruction–the lives of those who were forced out of their homes, the financial instutitons left holding depreciated real estate and more debt for the taxpayers to prop up Freddie & Fannie.
“Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.”
TY for your feedback Freedom, but I doubt compassion was the motivation behind those bogus mortgage loans and, I especially doubt the predatory loans in poor neighborhoods were given out of compassion. It was really greed in operation not compassion at all. From builders to mortgage lenders to individuals who knew they could acquire without much thought, the main motivator was greed and I wouldn’t use the word compassion in this context at all.
Giving someone a bank loan from other people’s money knowing they can’t pay it back but doing it anyway so we can get our commission is NOT compassionate giving! Compassionate giving is a commonsensical act of sharing what we know we are able to give from our pocket and our heart, so there is no tempering required. Once we start to inspect our giving, it has become something else…
When we have “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering,” our actions come from the heart and our intentions are sincere. Anything else is a show, ego driven, and insincere. In our current economy, teaching a man to fish is not enough. He needs opportunity and equal access.
Beautiful post with a profound message Elizabeth.
TY Madhu for your feedback!
Loved the quote about the equal application of compassion – ““Compassion does not see the faults of others….” That was just so beautiful and it should be what every one of us strives for every day of our lives. (Shared on FB) Thanks Elizabeth. Beautiful post.
TY for sharing this with your readers Karen. It does begin with us individually. If we take time to consider how we can help our fellow man without ulterior motives, then we can truly give from our hearts… TY
Let us reach out with gentleness and empathy to all sufferings, whether obvious or disquised as pride and/or propriety!
Amen to that Granbee! You said it well. The key is that we reach out and help without being manipulative about what we can get out of it or what we think others will find appropriate. The idea behind compassionate giving is that we give what we can/able to give from our hearts. As I said above in another comment, giving someone a bank loan from other people’s money knowing they can’t pay it back but doing it anyway so we can get our commission is NOT Compassionate giving!!! Compassionate giving is a commonsensical act of sharing what we know are able to give from our pocket and our heart, so there is no tempering required. Once we start to inspect our giving, it has become something else… TY!
It is an unfortunate thing that inequities exist throughout the world and the the burden of poverty can weigh on people’s health and well-being. Individuals with compassion take the first step in quelling the faults of the world, by first recognizing that these exist. Nice post on a subject that every person must be reminded — amidst their own problems they are dealing with.
Frances your line “Individuals with compassion take the first step in quelling the faults of the world, by first recognizing that these exist.” stood out for me and that is exactly the point we all need to remember! TY
I think compassion is a wonderful quality in a person. I agree with the idea that compassion is enhanced when we consider putting ourselves in the place of others and attempt to see life through their eyes. Wonderful post, Eliz! Debra
Exactly Debra! Until we can walk for a minute in another’s shoes, care enough about their well-being and empathize, we are simply moving our mouths… TY!
Great post…and I love the “compassion” I see in your followers… I couldn’t live with myself…if I weren’t this way…People want me to change…I hear it all of the time…”You’ll get hurt”…”You’ll be taken advantage of”…I live like I know the Lord wants me to…so a little pain from others is worth it to me…I will do what I know I should do!…~mkg
TY Miriam! Once, I met a wise woman who said give from your heart and let it go. Give what you can and let it go… I concur.
Our Lord and Master Jesus showed a lot of compassion in his life time. When we show compassion for each other, the world would be a far better place and suffering would be minimised greatly. Thank you for this beautiful post, Elizabeth.
TY Ce and that is true too. When we care enough to show true compassion and mean it, then we would be minimizing suffering. Sometimes people act from a place of ego and think it is compassion…and then they want to control the outcome. It is not compassion and that is the problem. Thanks again!
Teaching and practicing empathy would be a start but somehow i think, if we could learn to harness suffering as a way of an offering for those who are in need of Divine grace…my thought is on Father Damien, the Leper saint who chose the life of suffering in order to bring some happiness to those lepers condemned to live in isolation on the island of Molokai, Hawaii.
Thanks!
The Saints acted out of compassion in its truest sense and of course if we can embrace and live a life of empathy, it would be a great start. True compassion is spontaneous not calculated. When we see a hurting soul and reach out or offer our help, we are being compassionate. TY!