Compassion

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,

February 4

It is a little warmer this morning at 9 degrees. Last night our women’s group had but three persons in attendance and I sat alone in the Temple’s Zendo. Sitting alone in a Zendo can be very challenging. Lots of thoughts, no helpful energy, and since the willingness to sit is internal, without the energy of others to assist, it is completely possible to blow the whole thing off



I sat one period, chanted the appropriate chants, and left the Zendo for home. But before I left, I had the opportunity to read the preface to Karen Armstrong’s new book, “Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life.” Ms. Armstrong makes the case that we are a species suffering from a religious/spiritual crisis. She argues that the core of religion is compassion and that we have somehow let that core recede into the background. She takes issue with social Darwinists and argues from the science of an evolutionary neurology. Yes, we have a reptilian brain, but we also have a part of our brain which gives rise to compassion. She discusses “mirror neurons” and their role in generating empathy, and makes the case that these traits and qualities can be trained and developed to very high levels when we wish to do so.



She writes, “…those who have persistently trained themselves in the art of compassion manifest new capacities in the human heart and mind; they discover that when they reach out consistently toward others, they are able to live with the suffering that inevitably comes their way with serenity, kindness, and creativity. They find that they have a new clarity and experience a richly intensified state of being” (pp 21-22).



As I read this beautiful book, I hear my own nagging reptilian brain squawking, but what if? Student Shoji and I had a good discussion the other day on Skype where we talked about our feelings in situations that might be perceived as dangerous. My sense is that we practice to get to a place where keeping ourselves alive at the expense of others is no longer acceptable. Rather than living to maintain our lives, as Bodhisattvas we live for the lives of others. Our aim is not self interest, but the interest of all beings.



So, how do we fair as compassionate beings? Can we say we live for the well-being of others? And what if, as we walk down the street, we are confronted with aggression?



In truth, I know that in the past I have met aggression with aggression, sometimes having lethal consequences. More recently, I have met aggression with more of an open heart, knowing my heart’s purpose is to heal others. So, today, my hope is that I would take a backward step and act for the sake of the one in front of me. Given a Self that is ‘no self’ (as it is thoroughly interdependent), what would self defense mean? My guess, compassion.



Be well.