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Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is often regarded as being sensitive to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based on notions such as fairness, justice and interdependence, it may be considered rational in nature.
The word "compassion" comes from
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
, and derives from
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...
, via
ecclesiastical Latin
Latin, also called Church Latin or Liturgical Latin, is a form of Latin developed to discuss Christian thought in Late Antiquity and used in Christian liturgy, theology, and church administration down to the present day, especially in the Ca ...
compassio(n- ), from compati (‘suffer with’).
Compassion involves "feeling for another" and is a precursor to
empathy
Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position. Definitions of empathy encompass a broad range of social, co ...
, the "feeling as another" capacity (as opposed to
sympathy
Sympathy is the perception of, understanding of, and reaction to the distress or need of another life form. According to David Hume, this sympathetic concern is driven by a switch in viewpoint from a personal perspective to the perspective of an ...
, the "feeling towards another"). In common parlance, active compassion is the desire to alleviate another's suffering.
Compassion involves allowing ourselves to be moved by suffering, and experiencing the motivation to help alleviate and prevent it. An act of compassion is defined by its
helpfulness. Qualities of compassion are patience and wisdom; kindness and perseverance; warmth and resolve. It is often, though not inevitably, the key component in what manifests in the social context as
altruism. Expression of compassion is prone to be hierarchical, paternalistic, and controlling in responses.
The difference between
sympathy
Sympathy is the perception of, understanding of, and reaction to the distress or need of another life form. According to David Hume, this sympathetic concern is driven by a switch in viewpoint from a personal perspective to the perspective of an ...
and compassion is that the former responds to others' suffering with sorrow and concern whereas the latter responds with warmth and care.
An article by the Clinical Psychology Review suggests that "compassion consists of three facets: noticing, feeling, and responding." This means that compassion is a verb.
The English
noun
A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for:
* Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
''compassion'', meaning ''to suffer together with'', comes from
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
. Its
prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...
''com-'' comes directly from ''com'', an archaic version of the Latin
preposition
Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ''under'', ''towards'', ''before'') or mark various ...
and affix
cum (= with); the ''-passion'' segment is derived from ''passus'',
past participle
In linguistics, a participle () (from Latin ' a "sharing, partaking") is a nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. More narrowly, ''participle'' has been defined as "a word derived from ...
of the
deponent verb
In linguistics, a deponent verb is a verb that is active in meaning but takes its form from a different voice, most commonly the middle or passive. A deponent verb has no active forms.
Languages with deponent verbs
''This list may not be exha ...
patior, patī, passus sum. Compassion is thus related in origin, form and meaning to the English noun patient (= one who suffers), from ''patiens'',
present participle
In linguistics, a participle () (from Latin ' a "sharing, partaking") is a nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. More narrowly, ''participle'' has been defined as "a word derived from ...
of the same
patior, and is akin to the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
verb πάσχειν (= ''paskhein'', to suffer) and to its
cognate noun
πάθος (=
pathos).
Ranked a great virtue in numerous philosophies, compassion is considered in almost all the major
religious traditions
Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, tra ...
as among the greatest of
virtue
Virtue ( la, virtus) is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that shows high moral standards ...
s.
Theories on conceptualizing compassion
Theoretical perspectives of compassion have been developed through the years, the following proposed perspectives show contrasts in their evolution and approaches to compassion.
:* Compassion is simply a variation of love or sadness, not a distinct emotion.
:* From the perspective of evolutionary psychology, compassion can be viewed as a distinct emotional state, which can be differentiated from distress, sadness, and love.
:* Compassion as a synonym of empathic distress, which is characterized by the feeling of distress in connection with another person's suffering.
This perspective of compassion is based on the finding that people sometimes emulate and feel the emotions of people around them.
:* According to Thump ten Jinpa, compassion is a ''sense of concern'' that arises in us in the face of someone who is in need or someone who is in pain. And accompanied by a kind of a wishing (i.e. desire) to see the relief or end of that situation and wanting (i.e.
motivation) to do something about it.
Emma Seppala distinguishes compassion from empathy and altruism as follows: "... The definition of compassion is often confused with that of empathy. Empathy, as defined by researchers, is the visceral or emotional experience of another person's feelings. It is, in a sense, an automatic mirroring of another's emotion, like tearing up at a friend's sadness. Altruism is an action that benefits someone else. It may or may not be accompanied by empathy or compassion, for example in the case of making a donation for tax purposes. Although these terms are related to compassion, they are not identical. Compassion often does, of course, involve an empathic response and altruistic behavior. However, compassion is defined as the emotional response when perceiving suffering and involves an authentic desire to help." According to Thupten Jinpa, compassion is not the following: Compassion is not pity, Compassion is not attachment, Compassion is not the same as empathetic feeling, Compassion is not simply wishful thinking, Compassion is not self-regard.
The more one person knows about the human condition and the associated experiences, the more vivid the route to identification with suffering becomes.
Identifying with another person is an essential process for human beings, which is even illustrated by infants who begin to mirror the facial expressions and body movements of their mother as early as the first days of their lives. Compassion is recognized through identifying with other people (i.e.
perspective-taking Perspective-taking is the act of perceiving a situation or understanding a concept from an alternative point of view, such as that of another individual.
A vast amount of scientific literature suggests that perspective-taking is crucial to human de ...
), the knowledge of human behavior, the perception of suffering, transfer of feelings, knowledge of goal and purpose changes in sufferers, and leads to the absence of the suffering from the group.
Personality psychology
Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that examines personality and its variation among individuals. It aims to show how people are individually different due to psychological forces. Its areas of focus include:
* construction of a c ...
agrees that people are inherently different and distinct from one another, which leads to the conclusion that human suffering is always individual and unique. Suffering can result from psychological, social, and physical trauma
and it happens in acute forms as often as chronically.
Due to the inherent differences in people's personalities some may define their early stages of suffering to their external circumstances and those life events being quiet or not discussed. The later stages may involve the person expressing their
victimization
Victimisation ( or victimization) is the process of being victimised or becoming a victim. The field that studies the process, rates, incidence, effects, and prevalence of victimisation is called victimology.
Peer victimisation
Peer victimisat ...
and searching for help.
Suffering has been defined as the perception of a person's impending destruction or loss of integrity, which continues until the threat is vanished or the person's integrity can be restored.
Compassion consists of three major requirements: People must feel that troubles that evoke their feelings are serious, the understanding that sufferers' troubles are not self-inflicted, and ability to picture oneself with the same problems in a non-blaming and non-shaming manner.
The importance of identifying with others for compassion is contrasted by the negative physical and psychological effects of
abandonment.
Compassion is often a characteristic element of democratic societies.
The compassion process is highly related to identifying with the other person because sympathizing with others is possible among people from other countries, cultures, locations, etc. A possible source of this process of identifying with others comes from a universal category called "Spirit." Toward the late 1970s, very different cultures and nations around the world took a turn to
religious fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishi ...
, which has occasionally been attributed to "Spirit". The role of compassion as a factor contributing to individual or societal behavior has been the topic of continuous debate. In contrast to the process of identifying with other people, a complete absence of compassion may require ignoring or disapproving identification with other people or groups.
Earlier studies established the links between interpersonal violence and cruelty which leads to indifference. Compassion may have the ability to induce feelings of kindness and
forgiveness, which could give people the ability to stop situations that have the potential to be distressing and occasionally lead to violence. This concept has been illustrated throughout history:
The Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
,
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
,
European colonization of the Americas
During the Age of Discovery, a large scale European colonization of the Americas took place between about 1492 and 1800. Although the Norse had explored and colonized areas of the North Atlantic, colonizing Greenland and creating a short ter ...
, etc. The seemingly essential step in these atrocities could be the definition of the victims as "not human" or "not us." The atrocities committed throughout human history are thus claimed to have only been relieved, minimized, or overcome its damaging effects through the presence of compassion,
although recently, drawing on empirical research in
evolutionary theory
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
,
developmental psychology
Developmental psychology is the science, scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult deve ...
,
social neuroscience
Social neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field devoted to understanding the relationship between social experiences and biological systems. Humans are fundamentally a social species, rather than solitary. As such, '' Homo sapiens'' create eme ...
, and psychopathy, it also has been counterargued that compassion or empathy and morality are neither systematically opposed to one another, nor inevitably complementary, since over the course of history, mankind has created social structures for upholding truly universal moral principles to all humanity, such as Human Rights and the
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals f ...
. On one hand,
Thomas Nagel
Thomas Nagel (; born July 4, 1937) is an American philosopher. He is the University Professor of Philosophy and Law Emeritus at New York University, where he taught from 1980 to 2016. His main areas of philosophical interest are legal philosophy, ...
, for instance, critiques
Joshua Greene by suggesting that he is too quick to conclude
utilitarianism
In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals.
Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different chara ...
specifically from the general goal of constructing an impartial morality; for example, he says,
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...
and
John Rawls
John Bordley Rawls (; February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002) was an American moral, legal and political philosopher in the liberal tradition. Rawls received both the Schock Prize for Logic and Philosophy and the National Humanities Medal in ...
offer other impartial approaches to ethical questions.
In his defense against the possible destructive nature of passions,
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
compared the human soul to a chariot: the intellect is the driver and the emotions are the horses, and life is a continual struggle to keep the emotions under control. In his apology of a solid universal morality, Immanuel Kant saw compassion as a weak and misguided sentiment: "Such benevolence is called soft-heartedness and should not occur at all among human beings", he said of it.
Psychology
Compassion has become associated with and researched in the fields of
positive psychology and social psychology. Compassion is a process of connecting by identifying with another person. This identification with others through compassion can lead to increased motivation to do something in an effort to relieve the suffering of others.
Compassion is an evolved function from the harmony of a three grid internal system: contentment-and-peace system, goals-and-drives system and threat-and-safety system.
Paul Gilbert defines these collectively as necessary regulated systems for compassion.
Paul Ekman describes a "taxonomy of compassion" including: emotional recognition (knowing how another person feels), emotional resonance (feeling emotions another person feels), familial connection (care-giver-offspring), global compassion (extending compassion to everyone in the world), sentient compassion (extended compassion to other species), and heroic compassion (compassion that comes with a risk).
Indeed, Paul Ekman goes on further to make an important distinction between proximal (i.e. in the moment) and distal compassion (i.e. predicting the future;
affective forecasting
Affective forecasting (also known as hedonic forecasting, or the hedonic forecasting mechanism) is the prediction of one's affect (emotional state) in the future. As a process that influences preferences, decisions, and behavior, affective foreca ...
): "... it has implications in terms of how we go about encouraging compassion. We are all familiar with proximal compassion: Someone falls down in the street, and we help him get up. That's proximal compassion: where we see someone in need, and we help them. But, when I used to tell my kids, "Wear a helmet," that's distal compassion: trying to prevent harm before it occurs. And that requires a different set of skills: It requires social forecasting, anticipating harm before it occurs, and trying to prevent it. Distal compassion is much more amenable to educational influences, I think, and it's our real hope."
Distal compassion also requires
perspective-taking Perspective-taking is the act of perceiving a situation or understanding a concept from an alternative point of view, such as that of another individual.
A vast amount of scientific literature suggests that perspective-taking is crucial to human de ...
.
Compassion has been associated with important psychological outcomes including increases in mindfulness and emotion regulation.
Compassion fatigue
According to Figley, individuals with a higher capacity or responsibility to empathize with others may be at risk for "compassion fatigue", also called "secondary traumatic stress", which is related to professionals and individuals who spend a significant amount of time responding to information related to suffering.
However, newer research by
Singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
and
Ricard Ricard is a surname, as well as a Catalan name. Notable people with the surname include:
* Étienne Pierre Sylvestre Ricard (1771–1843), French general under Napoleon
* Hámilton Ricard (born 1974), Colombian footballer
*Jean-François Ricard (bo ...
suggests that it is lack of suitable
distress tolerance which gets people fatigued in compassion activities.
Individuals that are at risk for compassion fatigue usually display these four key attributes: diminished endurance and/or energy, declined empathic ability, helplessness and/or hopelessness, as well as emotional exhaustion. Negative coping skills can also increase the risk of developing compassion fatigue.
Smith mentions that people can alleviate the sorrow and distress by doing some self-care activities on a regular basis. Improving consciousness helps to guide people to recognize the impact and circumstances of past events. After people learn the experience from the situation in the past, they are able to find the causes of compassion fatigue in their daily life.
Research suggests that practice of nonjudgmental compassion can prevent fatigue and
burnout.
Smith provides some methods that can help people to heal compassion fatigue. People should do physical activity, eat healthy food with every meal, create good relations with others, enjoy interacting with others in the community, write a journal frequently, and sleep enough every day.
The practice of mindfulness and self-awareness has also been proven to help with compassion fatigue.
Conditions that influence compassion
The psychologist Paul Gilbert provides factors that can reduce the likelihood of someone willing to be compassionate to another, these include (less): likability, competence, deservedness, empathic-capacity, (more) self-focused competitiveness, (more) anxiety-depression, (more) overwhelmed, and inhibitors in social structures and systems.
Compassion fade
Compassion fade is the tendency of people to experience a decrease in empathy as the number of people in need of aid increases, the term created by Psychologist Paul Slovic. It is a type of
cognitive bias that people use to justify their decision to help or lack of helping and ignoring certain information. The cognitive process involved is turning compassion in to compassionate behavior. First is the singular person's response to the group in need, followed by motivation to help that can lead to action.
In an examination of the motivated regulation of compassion in the context of large-scale crises, such as natural disasters and genocides, much research has established that people tend to feel more compassion for single identifiable victims than large masses of victims (the
Identifiable victim effect). It is found that people only show less compassion for many victims than for single victims of disasters when they expect to incur a financial cost upon helping. This
collapse of compassion depends on having the motivation and ability to regulate emotions. In laboratory research, psychologists are exploring how concerns about becoming emotionally exhausted may motivate people to curb their compassion for—and dehumanize—members of stigmatized social groups, such as homeless individuals and drug addicts.
Neurobiology
Olga Klimecki (et al.), have found differential (non-overlapping) fMRI brain activation areas in respect to compassion and empathy: compassion was associated with the
mOFC,
pregenual ACC, and ventral
striatum
The striatum, or corpus striatum (also called the striate nucleus), is a nucleus (a cluster of neurons) in the subcortical basal ganglia of the forebrain. The striatum is a critical component of the motor and reward systems; receives glutamate ...
. Empathy, in contrast, was associated with the
anterior insula
The insular cortex (also insula and insular lobe) is a portion of the cerebral cortex folded deep within the lateral sulcus (the fissure separating the temporal lobe from the parietal lobe, parietal and frontal lobes) within each brain hemisphere, ...
and the
anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC).
Jorge Moll and Jordan Grafman,
neuroscientists
A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, neural circuits, and glial c ...
at the
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
and LABS-D'Or Hospital Network (J.M.) provided the first evidence for the neural bases of altruistic giving in normal healthy volunteers, using
functional magnetic resonance imaging. In their research, published in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of Sci ...
USA in October 2006, they showed that both pure monetary rewards and charitable donations activated the
mesolimbic
The mesolimbic pathway, sometimes referred to as the reward pathway, is a dopaminergic pathway in the brain. The pathway connects the ventral tegmental area in the midbrain to the ventral striatum of the basal ganglia in the forebrain. The ventra ...
reward pathway, a primitive part of the brain that usually responds to food and sex. However, when volunteers generously placed the interests of others before their own by making charitable donations, another
brain circuit
A neural circuit is a population of neurons interconnected by synapses to carry out a specific function when activated. Neural circuits interconnect to one another to form large scale brain networks.
Biological neural networks have inspired the ...
was selectively activated: the subgenual cortex/
septal region. These structures are intimately related to social attachment and bonding in other species. Altruism, the experiment suggested, was not a superior moral faculty that suppresses basic selfish urges but rather was basic to the brain, hard-wired and pleasurable.
In one study conducted by Jill Rilling and Gregory Berns, neuroscientists at
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...
, subjects' brain activity was recorded while they helped someone in need. It was found that while the subjects were performing compassionate acts the caudate nucleus and anterior cingulate regions of the brain were activated, the same areas of the brain associated with pleasure and reward. One brain region, the subgenual
anterior cingulate
In the human brain, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is the frontal part of the cingulate cortex that resembles a "collar" surrounding the frontal part of the corpus callosum. It consists of Brodmann areas 24, 32, and 33.
It is involved i ...
cortex/
basal forebrain
Part of the human brain, the basal forebrain structures are located in the forebrain to the front of and below the striatum. They include the ventral basal ganglia (including nucleus accumbens and ventral pallidum), nucleus basalis, diagonal b ...
, contributes to learning altruistic behavior, especially in those with trait empathy.
[
*] The same study has shown a connection between giving to charity and the promotion of social bonding and personal reputation.
True compassion, if it exists at all, is thus inherently motivated (at least to some degree) by self-interest.
In fact, in an experiment published in March 2007 at the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
neuroscientist
Antonio R. Damasio and his colleagues showed that subjects with damage to the
ventromedial prefrontal cortex
The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is a part of the prefrontal cortex
in the mammalian brain. The ventral medial prefrontal is located in the frontal lobe at the bottom of the cerebral hemispheres and is implicated in the processing of r ...
lack the ability to feel their way empathically to moral answers and that when confronted with moral dilemmas, these brain-damaged patients coldly came up with "end-justifies-the-means" answers, leading Damasio to conclude that the point was not that they reached immoral conclusions, but that when they were confronted by a difficult issue – in this case as to whether to shoot down a passenger plane hijacked by terrorists before it hits a major city – these patients appear to reach decisions without the anguish that afflicts those with normally functioning brains. According to
Adrian Raine
Adrian Raine (born 27 January 1954) is a British psychologist. He currently holds the chair of Richard Perry University Professor of Criminology & Psychiatry in the Department of Criminology of the School of Arts and Sciences and in the Departmen ...
, a clinical neuroscientist also at the University of Southern California, one of this study's implications is that society may have to rethink how it judges immoral people: "Psychopaths often feel no empathy or remorse. Without that awareness, people relying exclusively on reasoning seem to find it harder to sort their way through moral thickets. Does that mean they should be held to different standards of accountability?"
In another study, in the 1990s, Dr. Bill Harbaugh, a
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
economist, concluded people are motivated to give for reasons of personal prestige and in a similar fMRI scanner test in 2007 with his psychologist colleague Dr. Ulrich Mayr, reached the same conclusions of Jorge Moll and Jordan Grafman about giving to charity, although they were able to divide the study group into two groups: "egoists" and "altruists". One of their discoveries was that, though rarely, even some of the considered "egoists" sometimes gave more than expected because that would help others, leading to the conclusion that there are other factors in the case in charity, such as a person's environment and values.
In a 2009 small
fMRI
Functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI (fMRI) measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow. This technique relies on the fact that cerebral blood flow and neuronal activation are coupled. When an area ...
experiment, Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and colleagues Andrea McColl, Hanna Damasio and Antonio R. Damasio at the
Brain and Creativity Institute
Brain and Creativity Institute (BCI) is a research unit of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at the University of Southern California, which aims to "gather new knowledge about the human emotions, decision-making, memory, and communication ...
studied strong feelings of compassion for social and physical pain in others. Both feelings involved an expected change in activity in the anterior
insula,
anterior cingulate
In the human brain, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is the frontal part of the cingulate cortex that resembles a "collar" surrounding the frontal part of the corpus callosum. It consists of Brodmann areas 24, 32, and 33.
It is involved i ...
,
hypothalamus
The hypothalamus () is a part of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland. The hypothalamu ...
, and
midbrain
The midbrain or mesencephalon is the forward-most portion of the brainstem and is associated with vision, hearing, motor control, sleep and wakefulness, arousal (alertness), and temperature regulation. The name comes from the Greek ''mesos'', " ...
, but they also found a previously undescribed pattern of
cortical activity on the posterior
medial surface of each brain hemisphere, a region involved in the
default mode of brain function, and implicated in self-related processes. Compassion for social pain in others was associated with strong activation in the interoceptive, inferior/posterior portion of this region, while compassion for physical pain in others involved heightened activity in the exteroceptive, superior/anterior portion. Compassion for social pain activated this superior/anterior section, to a lesser extent. Activity in the anterior insula related to compassion for social pain peaked later and endured longer than that associated with compassion for physical pain.
Compassionate emotions in relation to others has effects on the
prefrontal cortex
In mammalian brain anatomy, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) covers the front part of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex. The PFC contains the Brodmann areas BA8, BA9, BA10, BA11, BA12, BA13, BA14, BA24, BA25, BA32, BA44, BA45, BA46 ...
, inferior frontal cortex, and the
midbrain
The midbrain or mesencephalon is the forward-most portion of the brainstem and is associated with vision, hearing, motor control, sleep and wakefulness, arousal (alertness), and temperature regulation. The name comes from the Greek ''mesos'', " ...
.
Feelings and acts of compassion have been found to stimulate areas known to regulate
homeostasis
In biology, homeostasis (British also homoeostasis) (/hɒmɪə(ʊ)ˈsteɪsɪs/) is the state of steady internal, physical, and chemical conditions maintained by living systems. This is the condition of optimal functioning for the organism and ...
, such as the
anterior insula
The insular cortex (also insula and insular lobe) is a portion of the cerebral cortex folded deep within the lateral sulcus (the fissure separating the temporal lobe from the parietal lobe, parietal and frontal lobes) within each brain hemisphere, ...
, the
anterior cingulate
In the human brain, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is the frontal part of the cingulate cortex that resembles a "collar" surrounding the frontal part of the corpus callosum. It consists of Brodmann areas 24, 32, and 33.
It is involved i ...
, the
mesencephalon
The midbrain or mesencephalon is the forward-most portion of the brainstem and is associated with vision, hearing, motor control, sleep and wakefulness, arousal (alertness), and temperature regulation. The name comes from the Greek ''mesos'', "m ...
, the
insular cortex
The insular cortex (also insula and insular lobe) is a portion of the cerebral cortex folded deep within the lateral sulcus (the fissure separating the temporal lobe from the parietal and frontal lobes) within each hemisphere of the mammalian b ...
and the
hypothalamus
The hypothalamus () is a part of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland. The hypothalamu ...
, supporting the hypothesis that social emotions use some of the same basic devices involved in other, primary emotions.
Compassion in practice
Medicine
Compassion is one of the most important attributes for physicians practicing medical services. It has been suggested that felt compassion brings about the desire to do something to help the sufferer.
That desire to be helpful is not compassion, but it does suggest that compassion is similar to other emotions by motivating behaviors to reduce the tension brought on by the emotion.
Physicians generally identify their central duties as the responsibility to put the patient's interests first, including the duty not to harm, deliver proper care, and maintain confidentiality.
Compassion is seen in each of those duties because of its direct relation to the recognition and treatment of suffering.
Physicians who use compassion understand the effects of sickness and suffering on human behavior. Compassion may be closely related to love and the emotions evoked in both. This is illustrated by the relationship between patients and physicians in medical institutions.
The relationship between suffering patients and their caregivers provides evidence that compassion is a social emotion, which is highly related to the closeness and cooperation between individuals.
Psychotherapy
Compassion focused therapy, created by clinical psychologist Professor
Paul Gilbert, focuses on the evolutionary psychology behind compassion: focusing on balancing of affect regulation systems (e.g. using affiliative emotions from the care-and-contentment system to soothe and reduce painful emotions from the threat-detection system).
Self-compassion
Self-compassion is a process of self kindness and accepting suffering as a quality of being human. It has positive effects on subjective happiness,
optimism
Optimism is an attitude reflecting a belief or hope that the outcome of some specific endeavor, or outcomes in general, will be positive, favorable, and desirable. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is a glass filled w ...
,
wisdom
Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowle ...
,
curiosity
Curiosity (from Latin '' cūriōsitās'', from ''cūriōsus'' "careful, diligent, curious", akin to ''cura'' "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in humans ...
,
agreeableness
Agreeableness is a personality trait manifesting itself in individual behavioral characteristics that are perceived as kind, sympathetic, cooperative, warm, and considerate. In contemporary personality psychology, agreeableness is one of the fiv ...
, and
extroversion
The traits of extraversion (also spelled extroversion Retrieved 2018-02-21.) and introversion are a central dimension in some human personality theories. The terms ''introversion'' and ''extraversion'' were introduced into psychology by Carl J ...
.
Kristin Neff
Kristin Neff is an associate professor in the University of Texas at Austin's department of educational psychology. Dr. Neff received her doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley, studying moral development. She did two years o ...
and Christopher Germer have identified that there are three levels of activities that thwart self-compassion and they are
self-criticism
Self-criticism involves how an individual evaluates oneself. Self-criticism in psychology is typically studied and discussed as a negative personality trait in which a person has a disrupted self-identity. The opposite of self-criticism would be ...
, self-isolation and self-absorption, they equate this to fight, flight and freeze responses. It has been found that parenting practices contribute to the development of self-compassion in children. Maternal support, secure attachment, and harmonious family functioning all create an environment where self-compassion can develop. On the other hand, certain developmental factors (i.e., personal fable) can hinder the development of self-compassion in children.
For increasing compassion in the workplace to self and others, ''authentic leadership'' centered on humanism and nourishing quality interconnectedness are considered as the key.
Judith Jordan's concept of ''self-empathy'' is similar to self-compassion, it implies the capacity to notice, care and respond towards the ones own felt needs. The strategies of self-care involve valuing oneself, thinking about one's ideations of needs compassionately, and connecting with others in order to conversely experience renewal, support, and validation. Research indicates that self-compassionate individuals experience greater
psychological health
Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...
than those who lack self-compassion.
Religion and philosophy
Abrahamic religions
Christianity
The Christian Bible's
Second Epistle to the Corinthians is but one place where God is spoken of as the "Father of mercies" (or "compassion") and the "God of all comfort."
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
embodies the very essence of compassion and relational care. Christ challenges Christians to forsake their own desires and to act compassionately towards others, particularly those in need or distress.
One of his most famous teachings about compassion is the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37), in which a Samaritan traveler "was moved with compassion" at the sight of a man who was beaten. Most significantly, he demonstrated compassion to those his society had condemned – tax collectors, prostitutes, and criminals, by saying "just because you received a loaf of bread, does not mean you were more conscientious about it, or more caring about your fellow man."
Conversely, a 2012 study of the
historical Jesus
The term "historical Jesus" refers to the reconstruction of the life and teachings of Jesus by critical historical methods, in contrast to religious interpretations. It also considers the historical and cultural contexts in which Jesus lived. ...
has claimed that the founder of Christianity sought to elevate Judaic compassion as the supreme human virtue, capable of reducing suffering and fulfilling our God-ordained purpose of transforming the world into something more worthy of its creator.
Islam
![Nomad prayer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Nomad_prayer.jpg)
In the Muslim tradition, foremost among
God's
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
attributes
Attribute may refer to:
* Attribute (philosophy), an extrinsic property of an object
* Attribute (research), a characteristic of an object
* Grammatical modifier, in natural languages
* Attribute (computing), a specification that defines a prope ...
are mercy and compassion or, in the canonical language of Arabic, ''Rahman'' and ''Rahim''. Each of the 114 chapters of the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
, with one
exception, begins with the verse, "In the name of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful."
The Arabic word for compassion is ''rahmah''. As a cultural influence, its roots abound in the Quran. A good Muslim is to commence each day, each prayer, and each significant action by invoking Allah the Merciful and Compassionate, i.e., by reciting ''Bism-i-llah a-Rahman-i-Rahim''. The womb and family ties are characterized by compassion and named after the exalted attribute of Allah "Al-Rahim" (The Compassionate).
Judaism
In the
Jewish tradition
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites"" ...
, God is the Compassionate and is invoked as the Father of Compassion: hence ''Raḥmana'' or Compassionate becomes the usual designation for His revealed word. (Compare, below, the frequent use of ''raḥman'' in the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
).
Sorrow and pity for one in distress, creating a desire to relieve it, is a feeling ascribed alike to man and God: in
Biblical Hebrew
Biblical Hebrew (, or , ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite branch of Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Israel, roughly west of ...
, ("riḥam," from "reḥem," the mother, womb), "to pity" or "to show mercy" in view of the sufferer's helplessness, hence also "to forgive" (Hab. iii. 2), "to forbear" (Ex. ii. 6; I Sam. xv. 3; Jer. xv. 15, xxi. 7). The
Rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
s speak of the "thirteen attributes of compassion." The
Biblical conception of compassion is the feeling of the parent for the child. Hence the prophet's appeal in confirmation of his trust in God invokes the feeling of a mother for her offspring (Isa. xlix. 15).
A classic articulation of the Golden Rule (see above) came from the first century
Rabbi Hillel the Elder. Renowned in the Jewish tradition as a sage and a scholar, he is associated with the development of the
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...
and the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
and, as such, one of the most important figures in
Jewish history
Jewish history is the history of the Jews, and their nation, religion, and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions, and cultures. Although Judaism as a religion first appears in Greek records during the Hellenisti ...
. Asked for a summary of the Jewish religion in the "while standing on one leg" meaning in the most concise terms, Hillel stated: "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah. The rest is the explanation; go and learn." Post
9/11, the words of Rabbi Hillel are frequently quoted in public lectures and interviews around the world by the prominent writer on comparative religion
Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong (born 14 November 1944) is a British author and commentator of Irish Catholic descent known for her books on comparative religion. A former Roman Catholic religious sister, she went from a conservative to a more liberal and ...
.
Ancient Greek philosophy
In
ancient Greek philosophy
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC, marking the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Greek philosophy continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the period in which Greece and most Greek-inhabited lands were part of the Roman Empire ...
motivations based on ''
pathos'' (feeling, passion) were typically distrusted.
Reason
Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...
was generally considered to be the proper guide to conduct. Compassion was considered ''pathos''; hence,
Justitia
Lady Justice ( la, Iustitia) is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems. Her attributes are scales, a sword and sometimes a blindfold. She often appears as a pair with Prudentia.
Lady Justice originates from the ...
is depicted as blindfolded, because her
virtue
Virtue ( la, virtus) is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that shows high moral standards ...
is dispassion - not compassion.
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century Common Era, BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asser ...
had a doctrine of rational compassion known as ''
oikeiôsis
In Stoic ethics, ''oikeiôsis'' ( grc, οἰκείωσις, la, conciliatio) is a technical term variously translated as "appropriation," "orientation," "familiarization," "affinity," "affiliation," and "endearment."Richter, Daniel S, ''Cosmopol ...
''.
In Roman society, compassion was often seen as a
vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character t ...
when it was expressed as
pity
Pity is a sympathetic sorrow evoked by the suffering of others, and is used in a comparable sense to '' compassion'', ''condolence'' or ''empathy'' – the word deriving from the Latin ''pietas'' (etymon also of '' piety''). Self-pity is pi ...
rather than
mercy
Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French ''merci'', from Medieval Latin ''merced-'', ''merces'', from Latin, "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merxi'' "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, relig ...
. In other words, showing empathy toward someone who was seen as deserving was considered virtuous, whereas showing empathy to someone deemed unworthy was considered immoral and weak.
Confucianism
Mencius maintained that everyone possesses the germ or root of compassion, illustrating his case with the famous example of the child at an open well:
"Suppose a man were, all of a sudden, to see a young child on the verge of falling into a well. He would certainly be moved to compassion, not because he wanted to get into the good graces of the parents, nor because he wished to win the praise of his fellow-villagers or friends, nor yet because he disliked the cry of the child".
Mencius saw the task of moral cultivation as that of developing the initial impulse of compassion into an enduring quality of
benevolence.
Indian religions
Buddhism
![Liao Dynasty Avalokitesvara Statue Clear](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Liao_Dynasty_Avalokitesvara_Statue_Clear.jpeg)
The first of what in English is called the
Four Noble Truths is the truth of
suffering or
dukkha (unsatisfactoriness or stress).
Dukkha is identified as one of the
three distinguishing characteristics of all conditioned existence. It arises as a consequence of not understanding the nature of impermanence
anicca
Impermanence, also known as the philosophical problem of change, is a philosophical concept addressed in a variety of religions and philosophies. In Eastern philosophy it is notable for its role in the Buddhist three marks of existence. It i ...
(the second characteristic) as well as a lack of understanding that all phenomena are empty of self
anatta (the third characteristic).
When one has an understanding of suffering and its origins and understands that liberation from suffering is possible
renunciation
Renunciation (or renouncing) is the act of rejecting something, especially if it is something that the renunciant has previously enjoyed or endorsed.
In religion, renunciation often indicates an abandonment of pursuit of material comforts, in t ...
arises.
Renunciation then lays the foundation for the development of compassion. Having given rise to renunciation, compassion arises for others who also suffer.
This is developed in stages:
* Ordinary compassion The compassion we have for those close to us such as friends and family and a wish to free them from the 'suffering of suffering'
* Immeasurable Compassion -This is the compassion that wishes to benefit all beings without exception. It is associated with both the
Hinayana
Hīnayāna (, ) is a Sanskrit term literally meaning the "small/deficient vehicle". Classical Chinese and Tibetan teachers translate it as "smaller vehicle". The term is applied collectively to the ''Śrāvakayāna'' and ''Pratyekabuddhayāna'' pa ...
and
Mahayana
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...
paths.
It is developed in four stages called
The Four Immeasurables:
**
Loving kindness (Mettā)
**
Compassion (Karuṇā)
**
Joy (Mudita)
**
Equanimity (Upekṣā)
The American
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Bhikkhu Bodhi (born December 10, 1944), born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in Sri Lanka and currently teaching in the New York and New Jersey area. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publ ...
states that compassion "supplies the complement to
loving-kindness Loving-kindness may refer to:
* an English translation of Chesed
( he, חֶסֶד, also Romanized: ) is a Hebrew word that means 'kindness or love between people', specifically of the devotional piety of people towards God as well as of love o ...
: whereas loving-kindness has the characteristic of wishing for the happiness and welfare of others, compassion has the characteristic of wishing that others be free from suffering, a wish to be extended without limits to all living beings. Like
metta, compassion arises by considering that all beings, like ourselves, wish to be free from suffering, yet despite their wishes continue to be harassed by
pain,
fear
Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...
,
sorrow, and other forms of dukkha."
* Great Compassion - This is practiced exclusively in the Mahayana tradition and is associated with the development of
Bodhicitta
In Mahayana Buddhism, bodhicitta, ("enlightenment-mind" or "the thought of awakening"), is the mind (citta) that is aimed at awakening ( bodhi), with wisdom and compassion for the benefit of all sentient beings. Bodhicitta is the defining qua ...
.
The
14th Dalai Lama has said, "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
Hinduism
![1 Sannyasi in yoga meditation on the Ganges, Rishikesh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/1_Sannyasi_in_yoga_meditation_on_the_Ganges%2C_Rishikesh.jpg)
In classical literature of
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
, compassion
[Nancy Martin, Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Editor: Knut Jacobsen (2010), Volume II, Brill, , see Article on ''Grace and Compassion'', pp 752–757] is a virtue with many shades, each shade explained by different terms. Three most common terms are ''
daya'' (दया), ''
karuṇā
' () is generally translated as compassion or mercy and sometimes as self-compassion or spiritual longing. It is a significant spiritual concept in the Indic religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism.
Buddhism
is important in ...
'' (करुणा), and ''
anukampā'' (अनुकम्पा). Other words related to compassion in Hinduism include ''karunya'', ''kripa'', and ''anukrosha''.
[ Some of these words are used interchangeably among the schools of Hinduism to explain the concept of compassion, its sources, its consequences, and its nature. The virtue of compassion to all living beings, claim ]Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
and others, is a central concept in Hindu philosophy.[
''Daya'' is defined by ]Padma Purana
The ''Padma Purana'' ( sa, पद्मपुराण or पाद्मपुराण, or ) is one of the eighteen Major Puranas, a genre of texts in Hinduism. It is an encyclopedic text, named after the lotus in which creator god Bra ...
as the virtuous desire to mitigate the sorrow and difficulties of others by putting forth whatever effort necessary.[ Matsya Purana describes ''daya'' as the value that treats all living beings (including human beings) as one's own self, wanting the welfare and good of the other living being.][ Such compassion, claims ]Matsya Purana
The ''Matsya Purana'' (IAST: Matsya Purāṇa) is one of the eighteen major Puranas (Mahapurana), and among the oldest and better preserved in the Puranic genre of Sanskrit literature in Hinduism. The text is a Vaishnavism text named after the h ...
, is one of necessary paths to being happy. Ekadashi Tattvam explains ''daya'' is treating a stranger, a relative, a friend, and a foe as one's own self; it argues that compassion is that state when one sees all living beings as part of one's own self, and when everyone's suffering is seen as one's own suffering. Compassion to all living beings, including to those who are strangers and those who are foes, is seen as a noble virtue.[Anandita Balslev and Dirk Evers (Editors), Compassion in the World's Religions: Envisioning Human Solidarity (Religionswissenschaft: Forschung und Wissenschaft), , LIT Verlag (2009), see Chapter 4, Compassion: Etymology, Rituals, Anecdotes from the Hindu Tradition] ''Karuna'', another word for compassion in Hindu philosophy, means placing one's mind in other's favor, thereby seeking to understand the best way to help alleviate their suffering through an act of Karuna (compassion). ''Anukampa'', yet another word for compassion, refers to one's state after one has observed and understood the pain and suffering in others. In Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...
, Indra praises Yudhishthira
''Yudhishthira'' (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira'') is the eldest among the five Pandava brothers. He is mentioned in the ancient epic Mahabharata. He was sired by King Pandu of the Kuru Dynasty and his firs ...
for his ''anukrosha'' – compassion, sympathy – for all creatures. Tulsidas
Tulsidas (; born Rambola Dubey; also known as Goswami Tulsidas; c.1511pp. 23–34.–1623) was a Ramanandi Vaishnava Hindu saint and poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. He wrote several popular works in Sanskrit and Awadhi, but ...
contrasts ''daya'' (compassion) with ''abhiman'' (arrogance, contempt of others), claiming compassion is a source of ''dharmic
Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...
'' life, while arrogance a source of sin. ''Daya'' (compassion) is not ''kripa'' (pity) in Hinduism, or feeling sorry for the sufferer, because that is marred with condescension; compassion is recognizing one's own and another's suffering in order to actively alleviate that suffering. Compassion is the basis for ahimsa
Ahimsa (, IAST: ''ahiṃsā'', ) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to all living beings. It is a key virtue in most Indian religions: Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.Bajpai, Shiva (2011). The History of India ...
, a core virtue in Hindu philosophy and an article of everyday faith and practice. Ahimsa or non-injury is compassion-in-action that helps actively prevent suffering in all living things as well as helping beings overcome suffering and move closer to liberation.
Compassion in Hinduism is discussed as an absolute and relative concept. There are two forms of compassion: one for those who suffer even though they have done nothing wrong and one for those who suffer because they did something wrong. Absolute compassion applies to both, while relative compassion addresses the difference between the former and the latter. An example of the latter include those who plead guilty or are convicted of a crime such as murder; in these cases, the virtue of compassion must be balanced with the virtue of justice.[
The classical literature of Hinduism exists in many Indian languages. For example, '']Tirukkuṛaḷ
The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The tex ...
,'' written between 200 BC and AD 400, and sometimes called the Tamil Veda
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
, is a cherished classic on Hinduism written in a South Indian language. It dedicates Chapter 25 of Book 1 to compassion, further dedicating separate chapters each for the resulting values of compassion, chiefly, vegetarianism or veganism
Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet (nutrition), diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is kn ...
(Chapter 26), doing no harm (Chapter 32), non-killing (Chapter 33), possession of kindness (Chapter 8), dreading evil deeds (Chapter 21), benignity (Chapter 58), the right scepter (Chapter 55), and absence of terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
(Chapter 57), to name a few.
Jainism
Compassion for all life, human and non-human, is central to the Jain
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
tradition. Though all life is considered sacred, human life is deemed the highest form of earthly existence. To kill any person, no matter their crime, is considered unimaginably abhorrent. It is the only substantial religious tradition that requires both monks and laity to be vegetarian. It is suggested that certain strains of the Hindu tradition became vegetarian due to strong Jain influences. The Jain tradition's stance on nonviolence, however, goes far beyond vegetarianism. Jains refuse food obtained with unnecessary cruelty. Many practice veganism
Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet (nutrition), diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is kn ...
. Jains run animal shelters all over India. The Lal Mandir
Shri Digambar Jain Lal Mandir () is the oldest and best-known Jain temple in Delhi, India. It is directly across from the Red Fort in the historical Chandni Chowk area.
The temple is known for an avian veterinary hospital, called the Jain Bird ...
, a prominent Jain temple in Delhi, is known for the Jain Birds Hospital in a second building behind the main temple.
See also
References
External links
TED Prize winner Karen Armstrong's video lecture on compassion
''Mirrored emotion''
Jean Decety
Jean Decety is an American-French neuroscientist specializing in developmental neuroscience, affective neuroscience, and social neuroscience. His research focuses on the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms underpinning social cognition ...
, University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
''Compassion Is Weaved Throughout Our Nervous System, Researchers Have Found''
Daniel Goleman, psychologist & author of ''Emotional Intelligence'', video lecture on compassion
Dalai Lama on compassion, Rice University, May 2007.
{{Authority control
Emotions
Kindness
Giving
Suffering
Virtue
Religious ethics
Relational ethics
Social emotions
Moral psychology