Compassion is one of the 3 great treasures of Taoism. Compassion, in the western understanding, is almost always linked to concepts of kindness and caring. It can be related to concepts from Christianity which talk of 'turning the other cheek', 'forgiving your brother seventy times seven'. It often has connotations of soft blindness, like a warm cushion with no strength or backbone to it. When referring to a compassionate nature here in the West, the implication is often one of softness and that softness is wrong, weak, just a little contemptible.
"Nowadays, people reject compassion
but want to be brave,"
But there is a great deal more to compassion than softness. In order to be truly compassionate, we might sometimes find ourselves in the position where we 'have to be cruel to be kind'. So often in our modern society, we are asked to protect people from the consequences of their actions, to shield them from the realities of the situations in which they find themselves. However, if we read Chapter 67 in TTC correctly, this is not what compassion always requires us to do. If we are truly seeking to protect someone's best interests, is it not more appropriate that, in the right circumstances, we tell them the unvarnished truth? Perhaps, by doing this, by bringing people into full-on contact with reality, we are being truly compassionate, because ultimately only when they fully understand all the implications will they be able to develop their full potential.
"Compassion:
Attack with it and win.
Defend with it and stand firm."
As we can see, from the quote above, compassion is not a wishy-washy, cuddly thing in the Taoist perspective. It is dynamic; you can both attack and defend with it. Taoist compassion does not stand by and say that 'it's all for the best, in the best of all possible worlds' and do nothing. Being compassionate does not mean that we stand there feeling sorry for people, although empathy and sympathy do have roles to play. After all:
"Heaven aids and protects through compassion."
So, act with dynamic compassion, attack with it and win; defend with it and stand firm. Don't equate compassion with spinelessness; become one with Tao and view reality with clarity and use that clarity to nuture the first of Taoism's 3 treasures - compassion.
Tag Taoism Compassion
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Thanks for bringing up passage 67. I comment on your post here:
http://uselesstree.typepad.com/useless_tree/2006/04/compassion.html
Thanks for bringing up passage 67. I comment on your post here:
http://uselesstree.typepad.com/useless_tree/2006/04/compassion.html
Excellent post, your clarity of vision is ... well ... very clear!
I like it when you say:
not a cuddly thing in the Taoist view:
as its true: westerner have this cuddly image of taoism. wonder if the tao of pooh helped that idea?
To be a taoist is to be alive, and life isnt always nice. Its a very practical down to earth life style. Which ironically is much more peaceful than the modern western life style, even with the taoist being to the point and truthful.
Thank you for your insights on the "backbone" of compassion. I must express a counter view, however, of your belief that Western Christianity evokes a spineless compassion. In fact, the suffering of Christ on the cross was anything but cushy. Turning the other cheek does not mean failing to confront the shortcomings of society. It literally implies that we should not stoop to the animalistic level of the tormentor, the persecutor, or anyone else who lacks the inner light to know the true dignity and courage required to reach beyond yourself and share the suffering of others. I have found many similarities over the years in all of our religious traditions, both Eastern and Western. All require a transcendent impulse to reach beyond yourself, to lose yourself, to find your true place in the cosmic setting. What disturbs me about the West, from the perspective of a Christian (not a fundamentalist), is the fact that so much of our Occidental culture has used secularism as a shield to atone for any amount of selfishness. We have chosen, collectively, to retreat into a shell inside this cozy world (cozy for some of us, at least) in which we are insulated from the terrible suffering of many other parts of the globe. That is entirely antithetical to the teachings of Christ. Following his example, as with Taoism, you must align every element of your spirit with something greater than yourself. That is the only way any of us human beings can achieve our highest dignity and truly be alive.
Post a Comment