"I'm not sure that a true and sustained love can exist without compassion."
"The love of our neighbour in all its fullness simply means being able to say to him: "what are you going through?" It is a recognition that the sufferer exists, not only as a unit in a collection, or a specimen from the social category labelled unfortunate but as a man, exactly like us, who was one day stamped with a special mark of affliction. For this reason it is enough , but it is indespensible, to know how to look at him in a certain way."
Shawna Lemay on compassion and also quoting Simone Weil.
CV2 Magazine
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Maybe compassion forces us to think outside our own need just long enough to love someone.
"In a world, where people have problems. In this world, where decisions are a way of life. Other people`s problems, they ovewhelm my mind. They say compassion is a virtue, but I don`t have the time."- David Byrne `77
Hmmmm.... not to throw a damper on things, but if compassion hinges on the recognition that someone is like us somehow, then isn't it really a selfish kind of thought process? I mean, what if we could have compassion for that which we do not recognize as akin to ourselves? Could we have compassion for a hive full of bees, for example? I mean real compassion - not just a recognition that they are alive and have some kind of society, some kind of intelligence, but real compassion.
Would that be valued by human beings at all, or would it be outside of our experience?
I'm just thinking out loud here (metaphorically speaking).
I don't think she's saying compassion hinges on other people being exactly like us, rather that we should imagine ourselves in their position, and whether inside or outside of our experience.
I think the really important point of this quote is the question,"what are you going through?" and positioning oneself to question, to seek out, to try to understand, and to listen rather than reaching our own conclusions.
Often it is difficult to really understand that other people actually exist outside our own conception of them and what we project onto them. I think Simone Weil is saying compassion for others is about attempting to see them and understand with their voices as the guide.
Right, but I was saying that compassion as usually understood, and I think as you are talking about it here, means being able to relate on some level to the 'compassionee', if you will.
What I was wondering about was the possibility of compassion for someone or something to whom we, admittedly, cannot relate, whatsoever. Is that even possible? If so, how? Should we even call it compassion? Can you have compassion for a comet flying through the vastness of space? I'm only being half facetious, I do actually wonder about these things.
Right...
I do see your point about a compassion that necessiates relation being selfish in a sense. It is a limiting point of view, this idea of needing to relate to or "understand"or be like someone or something in order to have compassion for it/them.
Interesting point to wonder about... compassion for comets, beehives and other unselfish pursuits.
Okay, you're the linguist, is there some other word that would signify "unselfish compassion" or something like it. Is the problem with the definition of compassion itself?
I don't think this is a problem about words ... I think this is a question about human nature, actually. Are we capable of being compassionate about things which are so outside our own personal experience that we can't identify with them? My only answer at present would be to turn to religion, in fact, as some religions (certainly not all!) posit that we have a duty to be compassionate.
Now I'm no expert here, so this really is a question I have and not me just taking sides in a debate, which I have been known to do ;) ... I do believe that Jainism is one such religion, and some aspects of Buddhism are also like this (though it may be restricted there to 'sentient beings' or something). Are people who follow such beliefs really capable of compassion for non-humans, in the same way that they might be compassionate for a cancer patient, or a homeless person, or someone devastated by an earthquake or a hurricane?
I really don't have any answers here. The only thing I can say is that sometimes I find it just as hard to be compassionate towards certain people as it would be to be compassionate towards a lump of dirt... but that's just me!
I do think Buddhism and Jainism lead the way in terms of considering compassion as a way of life.
Well, this all brings me back to that idea of questioning, looking away from yourself and seeking to hear "what are you going through" ... I guess that questions should even be posed to a lump of dirt:)
Do beehives, comets and dirt need our compassion or is that only the need of "sentient beings"?
Do we need their compassion ... ?
...
Or just our own?
Good questions as alway
Compassion for ourselves might be a place to start...and that is upfront selfish I guess...but in terms of learning...cognitively it is important to understand what it feels like to be able to do it for others?
If that is true (and I would have to agree with you), then I guess we could say the selfishness really is a virtue! Without it, we cannot hope to understand anyone or anything else.
And, I might add, that is a realization I have been coming to lately in my life, for reasons wholely unrelated to this discussion...
A realization I am coming to myself, unfortunately it's taken this long...
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