Compassion

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. Nelson Mandela

Every religion emphasizes human improvement, love, respect for others, sharing other people's suffering. On these lines every religion had more or less the same viewpoint and the same goal.

The animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren; they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

A really great man is known by three signs: generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success.

No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.

Anticipate charity by preventing poverty; assist the reduced fellow man, either by a considerable gift or a sum of money or by teaching him a trade or by putting him in the way of business so that he may earn an honest livelihood and not be forced to the dreadful alternative of holding out his hand for charity. This is the highest step and summit of charity's golden ladder.

Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve.... You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we are moving against wrong when we do it, because John was right, God is love. He who hates does not know God, but he who has love has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality.

In an earlier stage of our development most human groups held to a tribal ethic. Members of the tribe were protected, but people of other tribes could be robbed or killed as one pleased. Gradually the circle of protection expanded, but as recently as 150 years ago we did not include blacks. So African human beings could be captured, shipped to America, and sold. In Australia white settlers regarded Aborigines as a pest and hunted them down, much as kangaroos are hunted down today. Just as we have progressed beyond the blatantly racist ethic of the era of slavery and colonialism, so we must now progress beyond the speciesist ethic of the era of factory farming, of the use of animals as mere research tools, of whaling, seal hunting, kangaroo slaughter, and the destruction of wilderness. We must take the final step in expanding the circle of ethics.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Do not take lightly small good deeds,
Believing they can hardly help.
For drops of water, one by one,
In time can fill a giant pot.

When you listen generously to people they can hear the truth in themselves, often for the first time.

The world is evolving from imperfection to perfection. It needs all love and sympathy; great tenderness and watchfulness are required from each one of us.

He felt justified to kill birds for a museum where they would be preserved forever, as some feel justified to eat fish, chicken, or other meat that is digested in hours. Which is more justified? And even if necessary, how do you justify? Those who are familiar with ancient folklore, or are up above the rest of us a moral notch or two, kill "respectfully" by offering prayers or apologies, in the hope that animals will "offer themselves" up to be voluntarily killed. However, it is a sad fact that no animal cares if those who might eat them invent reasons to justify their acts (to make themselves feel good).

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.

Ask the experimenters why they experiment on animals, and the answer is: "Because the animals are like us." Ask the experimenters why it is morally OK to experiment on animals, and the answer is: "Because the animals are not like us." Animal experimentation rests on a logical contradiction.

When helping the wounded, Honesty is secondary to Healing!

The test of a democracy is not the magnificence of buildings or the speed of automobiles or the efficiency of air transportation, but rather the care given to the welfare of all the people.

War would end if the dead could return.

Compassion leads to freedom of discovering your voice, your gifts, and your purpose.

The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good.

A human being is part of the whole called by us 'universe', a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. The true value of a human being is determined by the measure and the sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self [ego]. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive.

Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the earth. I said then and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.

Now my friends, I am opposed to the system of society in which we live today, not because I lack the natural equipment to do for myself but because I am not satisfied to make myself comfortable knowing that there are thousands of my fellow men who suffer for the barest necessities of life. We were taught under the old ethic that man's business on this earth was to look out for himself. That was the ethic of the jungle; the ethic of the wild beast. Take care of yourself, no matter what may become of your fellow man. Thousands of years ago the question was asked; ''Am I my brother's keeper?'' That question has never yet been answered in a way that is satisfactory to civilized society.

This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century -- solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others.

The strongest bond of human sympathy outside the family relation should be one uniting working people of all nations and tongues and kindreds.

The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention.... A loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words.

Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.

The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.

A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.

The goal of attention, or shamatha, practice is to become aware of awareness. Awareness is the basis, or what you might call the “support,” of the mind. It is steady and unchanging, like the pole to which the flag of ordinary consciousness is attached. When we recognize and become grounded in awareness, the “wind” of emotion may still blow. But instead of being carried away by the wind, we turn our attention inward, watching the shifts and changes with the intention of becoming familiar with that aspect of consciousness that recognizes Oh, this is what I’m feeling, this is what I’m thinking. As we do so, a bit of space opens up within us. With practice, that space—which is the mind’s natural clarity—begins to expand and settle.

It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding.

Control no one. Control yourself --this is freedom.

Gratitude for the gift of life is the primary wellspring of all religions, the hallmark of the mystic, the source of all true art....It is a privilege to be alive in this time when we can choose to take part in the self-healing of our world.

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.

We know the future will outlast all of us, but I believe that all of us will live on in the future we made."

I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate them.

Grant others the same rights as you claim for yourself.

from Rev. Christopher Chenoweth: "I have said, many times, there are two types of people in this world, vacuums and sprinklers." from -Tirukkural - "What is virtuous conduct? It is never destroying life, for killing leads to every other sin. Of all virtues summed by ancient sages, the foremost are to share one's food and to protect all living creatures." from Swami Vivekananda - "Whenever darkness comes, assert the reality and everything adverse must vanish. For, after all, it is but a dream. Mountain high though the difficulties appear... they are but maya. Fear not - it is banished. Crush it and it vanishes... Go forward. Assert yourself again and again and light must come." from Plato – "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. " from Jimi Hendrix – “Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens."

"Beyond any technique, relationships are what heal."

As man advances in civilization, and small tribes are united into larger communities, the simplest reason would tell each individual that he ought to extend his social instincts and sympathies to all the members of the same nation, though personally unknown to him. This point being once reached, there is only an artificial barrier to prevent his sympathies extending to the men of all nations and races. If, indeed, such men are separated from him by great differences in appearance or habits, experience unfortunately shews us how long it is, before we look at them as our fellow-creatures. Sympathy beyond the confines of man, that is, humanity to the lower animals, seems to be one of the latest moral acquisitions.

If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.

I find it difficult to feel responsible for the suffering of others. That's why I find war so hard to bear. It's the same with animals: I feel the less harm I do, the lighter my heart. I love a light heart. And when I know I'm causing suffering, I feel the heaviness of it. It's a physical pain. So it's self-interest that I don't want to cause harm.

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

Charity is only a waystation on the road to justice.

My work has continually brought me back to the notion of compassion. Whichever religious tradition I study, I find at the heart of it is the idea of feeling with the other, experiencing with the other, compassion. And every single one of the major world religions has developed its own version of the Golden Rule. Don't do to others what you would not like them to do to you. . . . Compassion doesn't mean feeling sorry for people. It doesn't mean pity. It means putting yourself in the position of the other, learning about the other. Learning what's motivating the other, learning about their grievances.

Man with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but to the humblest living creature, with his god-like intellect which has penetrated into the movements and constitution of the solar system- with all these exalted powers- Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.

If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.

"And paradise will be brought near to the God-conscious, no longer will it be distant: This is what was promised for you - to everyone who would turn to God and keep God always in remembrance - who stood in awe of the Most Compassionate though unseen and brought a heart turned in devotion to God." [Qur'an: 50:31-33]

"O my Servants who have transgressed against your own selves! Do not despair of Allah's Compassion: for Allah forgives all mistakes: for He/She is Often-Forgiving, Infinitely Merciful." [Qur'an: 53:39]

"Compassionate towards yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world."

“Invoke the Mercy of God and as milk returns not to the udder go not back to your wrongdoing.” “Have compassion on yourself and on others and Infinite Compassion will be given to you.” “In the name of Allah, All-Merciful, All Compassionate, bestow on me a Mercy that shall put me beyond the need of mercy from any other than Thee.”

“Allah is the Lord of Grace Unbounded” [Qur’an: 2:105] “My Mercy overspreads everything.” [Qur’an: 7:156] “Allah has made in service to you All that is in the heavens and on earth And made His bounties flow to you in abundant measure Seen and Unseen. [Qur’an: 31:20]

“How should Spring bring forth a garden on hard stone? Become earth, that you may grow flowers of many colors. For you have been heart-breaking rock. Once, for the sake of experiment, be earth!” ~Rumi

Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn't anyone who doesn't appreciate kindness and compassion.

The test of our progress is not whether we add to the abundance of those who have much. It is whether we provide enough to those who have little.

We can reject everything else: religion, ideology, all received wisdom. But we cannot escape the necessity of love and compassion. This, then, is my true religion, my simple faith. In this sense, there is no need for temple or church, for mosque or synagogue, no need for complicated philosophy, doctrine, or dogma. Our own heart, our own mind, is the temple. The doctrine is compassion. Love for others and respect for their rights and dignity, no matter who or what they are: ultimately these are all we need.

Hold no man responsible for what he says in his grief.

Compassion literally means to feel with, to suffer with. Everyone is capable of compassion, and yet everyone tends to avoid it because it's uncomfortable. And the avoidance produces psychic numbing -- resistance to experiencing our pain for the world and other beings.

We live in a culture that discourages empathy. A culture that too often tells us our principle goal in life is to be rich, thin, young, famous, safe, and entertained.

We frail humans are at one time capable of the greatest good and, at the same time, capable of the greatest evil. Change will only come about when each of us takes up the daily struggle ourselves to be more forgiving, compassionate, loving, and above all joyful in the knowledge that, by some miracle of grace, we can change as those around us can change too.

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.

A Humanist is a sensitive person with his nerve ends exposed to the sufferings and evils and injustices of the world.

My call for a spiritual revolution is not a call for a religious revolution. Nor is it a reference to a way of life that is somehow otherworldly, still less to something magical or mysterious. Rather it is a call for a radical reorientation away from our habitual preoccupation with self. It is a call to turn toward the wider community of beings with whom we are connected, and for conduct which recognizes others' interests alongside our own.

It's time for greatness -- not for greed. It's a time for idealism -- not ideology. It is a time not just for compassionate words, but compassionate action.

The most solid comfort one can fall back upon is the thought that the business of one's life is to help in some small way to reduce the sum of ignorance, degradation and misery on the face of this beautiful earth.

We have committed the Golden Rule to memory; let us now commit it to life.

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.

With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity.

Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.

Democratic societies… leave much to be desired, but are certainly the most satisfactory to date. They are based on freedom, talent, chance, and merit, while including a safety net for those who have fallen off the high wire of health and success.

Devils can be driven out of the heart by the touch of a hand on a hand, or a mouth on a mouth.

There is a road from the eye to the heart that does not go through the intellect.

Look at the weaknesses of others with compassion, not accusation. It’s not what they’re not doing or should be doing that’s the issue. The issue is your own chosen response to the situation and what you should be doing. If you start to think the problem is “out there,” stop yourself. That thought is the problem.

Treat every person with kindness and respect, even those who are rude to you. Remember that you show compassion to others not because of who they are but because of who you are.

But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.

Western liberal humanism is not something that comes naturally to us: like an appreciation of art or poetry, it has to be cultivated. Humanism is itself a religion without God—not all religions, of course, are theistic. Our ethical secular ideal has it's own disciplines of mind and heart and gives people the means of finding faith in the ultimate meaning of human life that were once provided by the more conventional religions.

A religious man is a person who holds God and man in one thought at one time, at all times, who suffers in himself harm done to others, whose greatest passion is compassion…

A Jew must be sensitive to the pain of all human beings. A Jew cannot remain indifferent to human suffering… The mission of the Jewish people has never been to make the world more Jewish, but to make it more human.

Compassion: cum patior – to undergo with, to share solidarity with. Suffering with is quite different from pity. “Pity” shares its root with “piety,” connoting condescension, and condescension implies separateness from someone else’s weakness or misfortune. But compassion derives from awareness of our shared vulnerability.

Baruch merachem al haaretz Baruch merachem al habriot

Blessed be the One who has compassion upon the earth. Blessed be the one who has compassion upon Her creatures.

The divisions of mankind into two groups - men proper, and some other, lower, order of beings . . . permits men to look on many millions of their fellow men as not quite human, to slaughter them without a qualm of conscience, without the need to try to save them or warn them. Such conduct is usually ascribed to barbarians or savages - men in a pre-rational frame of mind, characteristic of peoples in the infancy of civilisation. This explanation will no longer do. It is evidently possible to attain to a high degree of scientific knowledge and skill, and indeed, of general culture, and yet destroy others without pity, in the name of a nation, a class, or history itself. If this is childhood, it is the dotage of a second childhood in its most repulsive form. How have men reached such a pass?

Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.

I tell you the truth, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.

Happiness is a skill,
emotional balance is a skill,
compassion and altruism are skills,
and like any skill they need to be developed.
That's what education is about.

True patriots believe that freedom from responsibility is selfishness, freedom from sacrifice is cowardice, freedom from tolerance is prejudice, freedom from stewardship is exploitation, and freedom from compassion is cruelty. 

One must love the mirror in the face of truth, only if one loves the outlook of your inner compassion.

Do not treat others as you yourself would not be treated.

Empathy is your pain I feel in my heart.

Pity arises when we are sorry for someone.
Compassion is when we understand and help wisely.

Kindness
is giving others happiness.
Compassion
is removing others' bitterness.
Joy
is freeing others from suffering.

You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.

Perfect wisdom,
Perfect tranquility,
Perfect compassion,

arise from

Our love,
Our sincerity.
Our understanding.

To ease another's heartache is to forget one's own.

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm... As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

Power is the ability to do good things for others.

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

If you haven't any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.

If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

Who burns with the bliss and suffers the sorrow of every creature within his own heart, making his own each bliss and each sorrow; him I hold highest of all the yogis. 

Come, Whoever you are! Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving, Come. Ours is not a caravan of despair. It doesn’t matter if you’ve broken your vow a thousand times, Still come. And yet again, come!

While scholars are comparing and contrasting theories, debating intellectual questions, and dividing humankind into categories, the world is changed by persons with faith, spirit, emotion, compassion, intuition, and irrational thinking.

One who sees all beings in the Self, and the Self in all beings, hates none.

One should not hurt others even by words.  One must not speak an unpleasant truth unnecessarily. 

None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.

Humanists affirm that individual and social problems can only be resolved by means of human reason, intelligent effort, critical thinking joined with compassion, and a spirit of empathy for all living beings.

A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

I hate it when people kill animals, even insects, after God went to all that trouble to make them.

The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.

Always treat people as ends in themselves, never as means to an end.

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

I believe compassion to be one of the few things we can practice that will bring immediate and long-term happiness to our lives. I'm not talking about the short-term gratification of pleasures like sex, drugs or gambling (though I'm not knocking them), but something that will bring true and lasting happiness. The kind that sticks.

Take sides.  Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.  Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

The question is not, Can they reason? Nor, can they talk?  But, Can they suffer?

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.

Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us everyday.

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

The value of compassion cannot be over-emphasized.  Anyone can criticize.  It takes a true believer to be compassionate.   

Compassion automatically invites you to relate with people because you no longer regard people as a drain on your energy.   

You may call God love, you may call God goodness,
but the best name for God is compassion.

For those who may not find happiness to exercise faith, it's okay to remain a radical atheist, it's absolutely an individual right, but the important thing is with a compassionate heart - then no problem.

The basic difference between being assertive and being aggressive is how our words and behavior affect the rights and well being of others.

Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too.

How far you go in life depends on your being compassionate with the young, the aged, the striving, and the weak.  Because, someday you will have been all of these things.

Compassion alone stands apart from the continuous traffic between good and evil proceeding within us.

Compassion is not sentiment but is making justice and doing works of mercy.  Compassion is not a moral commandment but a flow and overflow of the fullest human and divine energies.

The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.

Each of us has response-ability for our unique piece of Creation, but only from the deeper wisdom and compassion of our Greater Self can we truly care for the world entrusted to us.

Compassion begins at home, and it is not how much we do but how much love we put in that action.  Do not think that love has to be extraordinary.  What we need is to love without getting tired.

Compassion is not just being sentimental and feeling with someone, but seeking to change the situation.  If you are going to be compassionate, be prepared for action!

I believe that at every level of society the key to a happier world is the growth of compassion.  We do not need to become religious, nor do we need to believe in an ideology.  All that is necessary is for each of us to develop our good human qualities.

With kindness, with love and compassion, with this feeling that is the essence of brotherhood, sisterhood, one will have inner peace. This compassionate feeling is the basis of inner peace.