๐ Meditation and Buddhism - What is Compassion? ๐
The Buddha recognized and taught what he saw about human nature and the human condition and the way out of suffering. As there are so many elements to our psyches there are many elements that work together in Buddhism. As I pointed out in the last essay that featured wisdom as a result of following the suggestions on the Noble Eightfold Path has to be tempered with the cultivation of emotional sophistication known to some as compassion translated more closely as loving-kindness.
Wisdom and compassion are sometimes compared to two wings that work together to enable flying, or two eyes that work together to see deeply. Thoughtco.com
I know that when I first heard of this I thought to myself I will never be able to do this. First thing to understand that this is not an exercise in perfection. Of course the average person cannot do this because they have not undertaken the purification of mind necessary for this level of empathic caring to arise. So, not to worry. Loving-kindness will arise on itโs own when the conditions are right. It is our job to put in the effort and that is all.
While I have explained before (see links to previous essays below) that each step on this path supports all other steps and it is not a linear process it is helpful to look at certain practices that offer a step-by-step approach keeping in mind that we always start where we are with whatever situations we find ourselves faced with whether itโs compassion for ourselves, others or both. Wisdom or clear seeing helps us discern this.
We have to understand that happiness is not a component of a good life. It is the result of understanding, patience, and loving kindness.
~Mara Sobotka
Metta and The Defilements
How many times have you tried to โthink positiveโ only to fail? How many times have been things gone your way or unexpectedly experience sudden turn of fortunate events like falling in love, winning a court case, receiving a gift or just feeling like you are in a good mood โ to only have happiness fade as soon as something that does not meet your expectations occur? This is what we are talking about here!
A lot of people say things like happiness is the way, or joy is the way or happiness is a choice. When you begin to develop wisdom and see clearly you can deconstruct what is going on in reality and see that happiness is not a choice. Happiness arises as a result of certain causes and conditions coming together. If the conditions have not been met you will not experience happiness and no amount of positive thinking is going to change that. Itโs kind of a relief, isnโt it?
The reason this happens is because we have not recognized that the negative states which exist in the minds and hearts of all human beings have not be seen and worked with.
Photo by Amanda Flavell on Unsplash
The wisdom of Buddhism over the last 2500 years gives us a way out of this mess. One way is called the practice of metta or metta-bhavana. This is a six-stage process and for a very good reason. One of the reasons is that within the mind it was uncovered by the Buddha and confirmed by practitioners since that time there are negative and positive states that are commonly experienced by human beings and the negative qualities have to be addressed and dealt with before we can sustain happiness or compassion. Metta-bhavana is the practice of having loving-kindness, compassion or empathetic caring. The six-stage process of metta-bhavana are as follows:
- Understanding the defilements and working to overcome them
- Toward ourselves
- Toward our loved ones
- Toward people we feel neutral toward
- Toward those with whom we are having conflicts
- Toward all sentient beings
Understanding the undertaking before us we can see the wisdom in how this has been laid out. If the defilements are not removed and our minds and hearts not purified we cannot have true compassion.. The defilements are:
a) Wrong thought
b) Greed
c) Hatred
Seeing that this is first on our list and then seeing that the first person on our list that we will be working toward having compassion with in this practice is ourselves it becomes much more palatable that we would be able to move forward step by step and gaining ground as we do because we are moving in a logical fashion. You canโt have one without the other and so on it goes.
In the next essay we will dive into each step and light the flame of illumination in our minds.
Photo by Cathal Mac an Bheatha on Unsplash
What do you think?
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Making Mindfulness Meditation Work For You Part 4 - The Noble Eightfold Path - Right Speech
Making Mindfulness Meditation Work For You Part 5 - The Noble Eightfold Path โ Right Action
Making Mindfulness Meditation Work For You Part 6 - The Noble Eightfold Path โ Right Livelihood
Making Mindfulness Meditation Work For You Part 7 - The Noble Eightfold Path โ Right Effort
Making Mindfulness Meditation Work For You Part 8 โ The Noble Eightfold Path โ Right Mindfulness
Making Mindfulness Meditation Work For You Part 9 โ The Noble Eightfold Path โ Right Concentration
Making Mindfulness Meditation Work For You โ The Noble Eightfold Path Part 10 โ Ethics, Compassion and Wisdom
@soulsistashakti is a musical artist and writer based in NYC as well as a practitioner of Buddhist teachings. You can check out my music on my FB artist page at https://www.facebook.com/soulsistashakti
It's really hard to be happy if something negative is going on in your life constantly. Gotta deal with the negatives first to be more positive!
'xactly!
I think on the contrary @trendo one needs to focus on the positive things in your life to attract postobe. In Buddhism no such thing as bad or good
Again, in Buddhism, happiness is not the point of the practice it is part of a several stage process known a dyhana. Happiness seems better because until we get past that stage we do not know any better. Happiness has another side and that is sadness. It' s not good or bad it's just 2 sides of a coin. If we stick with the practice we will understand that beyond these dualities is our true nature equanimity and pure awareness. Pure awareness has no opposite. I talk about it in Part 10 on Noble Eightfold Path series.
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Have a nice day ๐
Thanks .
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Very interesting post. I often say happiness is a choice because I control my thoughts and emotions but you make a great point of when we haven't dealt with something yet we can feel those emotions. I would agree.
Compassion is very important and this highlighted it even more for me. I am going to read this for a second time. The wisdom is dawning on me... :)
Thanks @soulsistashakti, love your insight.
@bitdollar interesting point there. Compassion don't come easy to us humans but if learned it also allows us to adopt to life's challenges better
Yea I agree!
You're welcome but honestly I'm just reporting the Buddha's insights he cultivated 2500 years ago :) One of the best ways that this will be illustrated is when something knocks you out of what you thought reality was, like someone cheats you or cheats on you (I don't mean YOU I mean anyone) or someone shows us that they are not what we thought they were. Often times, if we are open, we can see where we had created a reality that wasn't real after all and then as a lot of people say the signs were there all along we just couldn't see them through our rose colored glasses.
With this method and honest evaluation of human nature we can get to the root of the causes of all of this before bad stuff can ever happen and it it does our world doesn't feel like it ceases to exist.
This is why I follow others who say to have low expectations, think of the worse, then you will get whatever you thought it was or better. Being honest that anything can happen is very important, that is reality and if we look at anything that happens to be life and appreciated, it's all good. :D
Hey, I liked your post. In it you say that wisdom is clear seeing. I have often understood seeing as more of a passive act, where as wisdom more of an action. For instance, one cannot be considered wise unless they do something or say something. I wonder if you can clarify a little more?
Also, Iโm new here, and I noticed that a lot of your posts contain similar content, and wondered how that is helping your account?
Peace and Love
Yogimatt
What I mean by clear seeing is that the process of meditation and following the Noble Eightfold Path (Buddhism) creates a purification of the mind.
Example: You have been riding around with a dirty windshield and didn't realize it because you needed glasses and can't see that well anyway. You keep running into things over and over and can't figure out why. You start going through a process, you go to the doctor and are diagnosed and prescribed glasses and now you can see better. Then you clean your windshield and now you see clearly.
That is what meditation along with following the Noble Eightfold Path does.
I believe that what I write about adds value to other people's lives and so do some other people so they read my posts. As far as creating a series that probably has a positive effect on bringing reader's back, it helps to have some expertise in what you are writing about or at least a passion for it.
Thanks! I like that analogy a lot. It helped me to see your point with more clarity ๐
Groovy :)
I really enjoyed reading this. Lots to think about. I think happiness comes from right conditions often beyond our control, but we have to work at it to gain certain right conditions.
@annhoyblog I think like all things happiness is a choice
Right Ann if the conditions are met we experience and if they aren't we don't wether we work at it or not. It's just that happiness is what Buddhism calls an active sensation and it is prone to flip into sadness, worry or any of it's opposites. For instance, you could be in love and it could turn into jealousy. Stuff like that.
Great read again! There are so many approaches to the subject of creation, happiness, and underlying mechanisms. Most of them overlap in so many ways and for me personally, I often rediscover the same book, text or video in a completely new way, from a different angle, and sometimes it is even more exciting then it was originally. Now, I am going to read your posts again, :))
@telasius I am wondering any good book or video to recommend on this topic
Sure, I often listen to Eckhart Tolle https://www.youtube.com/user/EckhartTeachings/videos
Abraham Hicks https://www.youtube.com/user/EternalJoyFreedom/featured
Bentinho Massaro https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt1rnzRJzfVfMwjnccCgKFw
and a book series Reality Transurfing by Vadim Zeland offer some interesting and unique read. Also, after almost 20 years I can't wait to read Conversations With God again. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conversations-God-Book-Uncommon-Dialogue/dp/0340693258
There is an ocean of similar material, just find the one that resonates with you and enjoy.
Yes it is a fun adventure isn't it?
@soulsistashakti Buddhism YouTube videos had helped me accept the most difficult challenges in my life I listen to it everyday esp by ajahnbrahm
That's wonderful, Buddhism has had the most impact on me for the very same reason - it never fails me.
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