What is Compassion?
Thursday, May 1st, 2008By Padma Shandas
These are turbulent times, no doubt – wars; violence; protests; intolerance; inflation; climate change. We are swamped with problems, and burdened by doubts, perplexity, skepticism, even despair.
Where do I find hope? Then I learned of the Seeds of Compassion Conference in Seattle, the five-day gathering held this April, where His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama was a participant. I hoped for hope.
And there is hope.
At the Seattle conference, which I watched over live Webcast, the panelists – educators, scientists, social workers, researchers – entered in a series of direct dialogues with each other and the Dalai Lama. They discussed many issues and experiences relating hope with compassion, and delight with compassion. Researchers talked about their observations of babies with caregivers, how the babies come to the world ready to learn, curious, and how they thrive in a positive, learning environment. How a caring environment fosters compassion in children.
The Dalai Lama praised the efforts of scientists, saying how scientific analysis and critical thinking are even more important than ancient doctrines. He said compassion creates calm mind. At one point he explained, with his disarming smile, that even from a selfish point-of-view, compassion is good.
The discussion on compassion reminded me of an old story I learned at school in which a victorious king lamented his victory in a war. This king lived in India. His name is Ashoka.
Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Kingdom ruled from 268-232 BC.
The legend goes like this: When Ashoka returned home jubilant, one hundred thousand of his enemy dead, fifty thousand captured, many more lost to starvation, from the Kalinga War, his daughter, Sanghamitra, confronted him.
“Why, oh, why, Father? So many people are killed, so many children orphaned…” she asked.
“But this is all for you, my daughter! Look at the gold and jewelry I brought,” he gloated.
“Think of our might! Think how great our empire is. Is there anything we can’t do?”
“Well… Father. There is one thing that you can’t do!”
“What? What in the world could that be?”
“Bring one of those men you killed back to life!” Sanghamitra said.
Ashoka’s throat became dry. He stared speechless. He had never thought about war that way.
“No… I’m sorry, but I can’t, my dear daughter,” he said, collapsing into his throne.
It was a life-changing moment for the Emperor. The more he thought about it, the more he realized the emptiness of war. He vowed never to fight another war, and became a Buddhist. The rest of his life he used to spread the nonviolent, compassionate ways of the Buddha. Ashoka and his children, Sanghamitra and brother Mahendra, undertook the task of spreading the word of Buddhism, thus beginning a mission that would change the world forever.
Compassion lets you feel the suffering of another. It helps you ease another’s pain.
Visit http://www.seedsofcompassion.net/ to listen to the archived discussion.
Padma Shandas is the author of Spices in the Melting Pot—Life Stories of Exceptional South Asian Immigrant Women.