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Chapter 4
Compassion and related qualities
Development of compassion is central to Mahāyāna Buddhism – one of two major approaches within Buddhism which includes Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Chinese Buddhism and some other traditions. Mahāyāna schools recognize various levels of compassion and outline a progression of realization a practitioner goes through when engaging in the long-term practice of compassion. In this traditional context cultivation of compassion together with qualities of loving kindness, rejoicing and equanimity could be considered as the bridge between calm abiding Shamatha practices and Vipassana practices developing insight into the nature of self and reality. Meditations on compassion and the related qualities are typically practiced alongside training in mindfulness and meta-awareness, but after their development and refinement these qualities are maintained and ever present throughout the Vipassana training. In Tibetan Buddhism, the highest level of compassion, unconditional non-conceptual compassion, is considered an integral part of experiencing the most advanced levels of insight.
In the Western context of meditation-based therapeutic approaches, compassion is the core concept in compassion-focused therapy (Gilbert, 2005). Self-compassion (Neff, 2003) is another construct which builds on traditional Buddhist accounts of compassion, even though it primarily emphasizes the importance of developing a compassionate attitude towards our own experience, thoughts, feelings and habits. Within MBSR and MBCT courses, compassion training is not explicit; foundational qualities of compassion are cultivated implicitly in the way the teacher engages with the participants in the courses and provides meditation guidance. However, some MBSR teachers provide their course attendees with optional guided practices in loving kindness, which is a quality related to compassion.
In this chapter, we will in detail explore the theory, applications and mechanisms of compassion and related practices of loving kindness, rejoicing and equanimity starting with definitions and descriptions of these in the Buddhist and Western scientific contexts. This will be followed by an outline of specific meditation practices which cultivate compassion and related qualities in the Buddhist context. We will then discuss possible neurocognitive mechanisms of compassion and loving kindness. Considering the potential of these practices in supporting our well-being more broadly, we will then examine their place in the framework of metacognitive self-regulatory capacity (MSRC) and modes of existential awareness (MEA) outlined in Chapter 1. The chapter will conclude with practical suggestions on how to embed these practices in both formal and informal meditation in everyday life from a long-term perspective of meditation training.
What is compassion? A Buddhist perspective
While in the Western context we may think about compassion as an emotion, Buddhist languages including Pāli, Sanskrit and Tibetan (Ekman et al., 2005) don’t have a word equivalent to what we mean
by ‘emotion’. So compassion is not considered an emotion in the Buddhist psychology (Pāli: Abhidhamma; Sanskrit: Abhidharma). Buddhist considerations about the mind and behaviour are firmly grounded in ethics and a long-term view of health and well-being. Accordingly, the states, faculties and processes of the mind are first and foremost defined in terms of whether they lead to harm (non-virtue) or genuine happiness (virtue). In this way, Mahāyāna Yogacara Abhidharma of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition recognizes anger, craving, ignorance/delusion, pride, afflictive doubt and afflictive views (Goleman, 2003) as the main afflictive states. In contrast, examples of wholesome mental states include conscientiousness, regard for consequence, non-attachment, non-hatred and diligence. Compassion, together with mental states of loving kindness, sympathetic joy and equanimity are core wholesome mental states which are emphasized and explicitly developed as part of the Mahāyāna Buddhist path. They are together termed ‘the four immeasurables’ (Pāli: appamaññā; Sanskrit: apramāṇa; Tibetan: tsad med zhi).
Compassion in the Buddhist Mahāyāna context can be described as connecting with suffering (of others and oneself) and a genuine wish for freedom from suffering. The connecting element of compassion involves courage to see suffering rather than avoidance or denial of it which can be the habitual initial response. We can have a tendency to avoid connecting with suffering because we associate the experience of pain, sadness and heaviness with it. However, compassion has a different quality; the sense of sadness which arises in compassion is intertwined with a sense of hope and readiness to help. It is also connected with the recognition of the ordinary way of being as a way of suffering with its deeper roots in the afflictions of the mind and a key to freedom from suffering in recognizing the nature of our mind. Compassion also has the qualities of freshness, authenticity and opportunity for change. It motivates us to do what we can to help in the face of suffering.
In the West, compassion can sometimes be perceived with a sense of cynicism which may arise from us perceiving the notion of helping alleviate suffering whenever we see it as an idealistic and ignorant attitude since it seems clearly unachievable. This view is grounded in a somewhat limited notion of both suffering and the possible help we can provide to those who suffer. In the Western culture suffering is typically considered as a lack of resources – not having enough food, shelter or care. From the Buddhist perspective these obvious forms of suffering extend much further to mental suffering of affliction where even those of us who have all the necessities of existence can experience deep suffering of existential confusion, anger, greed, unhealthy self-focus etc. With an attitude of genuine compassion we more readily engage in the usual ways of reducing suffering such as contributing to charitable causes or providing food, shelter and care whenever we can. From the Buddhist perspective our ways of helping can extend beyond these, into meditation practices in which we intentionally connect with the suffering and wish for freedom of suffering. Another way of helping is teaching others ways to reduce their suffering through meditation.
Importantly, genuine compassion has an unconditional quality and needs to be applied with wisdom. Some may engage in compassion and help others because it is a social expectation or because they want to appear altruistic and compassionate. This means that the motivation underlying their compassionate behaviour is superficial and compassion has pretentious, rather than an authentic, quality. This highlights the essential contribution of motivation/intention to genuine compassion in the Buddhist context. And even with a positive intention, compassion can lead to misguided and misplaced action if it is not applied with wisdom. For example, in Buddhism compassion is cultivated towards all beings; even those who have harmed or are harming us or others. The logic here is that they are doing so from an afflictive state of mind which will lead to suffering for them in the future. This assumption is based on the law of cause and effect as a fundamental principle of Buddhism. However, having compassion for those who are doing harm does not mean that we should passively watch them engaging in harmful activity; instead, the wise compassionate action may mean stopping the harm while keeping the compassionate stance and not succumbing to anger towards them. So while compassion is applied broadly to all beings in Buddhism, action arising from compassion needs to be guided by wisdom.
In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, different gradients of compassion are distinguished (Rinpoche, 2004). The first gradient of compassion, the one most commonly practiced, is grounded in the dualistic differences between self and the other, but it arises out of authentic concern and care which make it genuine compassion. This type of compassion involves providing for others when they need food, medical care, shelter etc. The second gradient of compassion builds on the first gradient but extends it further by looking deeper into the causes of suffering. It recognizes the afflictive mind as the cause of suffering and understands ways to lessen suffering through meditation training. Accordingly, in addition to the immediate help, this gradient of compassion involves a heartfelt yearning for those who are suffering to reach a state of mind free from suffering and not to have to suffer again. Finally, the third gradient of compassion can be termed as non-referential, which refers to its all-encompassing nature. This highest level of compassion is non-dual and arises automatically as a non-conceptual quality of relating to others in the mind of advanced practitioners all the time and towards all beings. This type of compassion is inherent to the highest level of existential awareness and arises effortlessly when the practitioner recognizes the nature of mind without the need of common meditation practices such as contemplation, visualization or mantra recitation.
Compassion is in Buddhism usually practiced as part of a progression of practices starting with loving kindness, then compassion followed by rejoicing and equanimity. Loving kindness can be described as a wish for genuine happiness for oneself and all beings. The ultimate happiness is here understood as a state of balance, free from afflictions and suffering associated with them. It is not happiness in the ordinary hedonistic sense of owning things or gratification from pleasure; this type of ordinary happiness is in the Buddhist context considered part of the suffering cycle where we develop unhealthy attachment to impermanent sources of suffering such as possessions or ordinary relationships etc. When practicing loving kindness we cultivate a yearning for experiencing genuine lasting happiness which is not dependent on our personal circumstances and transcends hedonistic happiness. We also understand that meditation practice is the path to reaching such happiness which is free from ending and sorrow; in Buddhism this is the state of enlightenment, when we realize
the nature of our mind and abide in pristine awareness.
Sometimes when we practice loving kindness, we can become ungrounded; this is where the next practice in the sequence of the four immeasurables, compassion, brings us back to the reality of suffering and this can help us stay focused on our meditation practice. However, it can also happen that our practice of compassion slips into excessive sadness and grief if we don’t practice in a balanced way. This tendency is then countered by meditation on rejoicing, in which instead of suffering we bring to our mind all the wholesome actions of others and our own virtuous activity. The human mind has a natural tendency to notice threat and remember negative experiences, possibly for evolutionary reasons- it can help us avoid the same source of danger the next time. However, this negativity bias can under normal circumstances also distort the perceptions of our life if we don’t make an effort to counter it by focusing on the positive aspects of our experience. This is why rejoicing enables us to pay attention to the virtuous acts of self-less kindness others have shown to us or others, or those we have shown to others. From a Buddhist perspective, by rejoicing we are also sowing the seeds of our own happiness and even sharing in the virtue arising from such actions even if we have not done them ourselves.
The final quality developed as part of the four immeasurables is equanimity, which further expands the scope of training in loving kindness and compassi
on. Equanimity does not mean that we develop indifference to others. In fact, it is the opposite of indifference: it means that we cultivate loving kindness and compassion widely to all sentient beings. We naturally have the tendency to favour those who are close to us, our family and friends. It might be easier for us to develop loving kindness and compassion towards them because we feel extra affection for them. Equanimity helps us expand the perspective of loving kindness and compassion to people we don’t know, and even those who are causing suffering to us. The logic here is that we recognize that all beings, whether they are close to us or not, wish for happiness. And just like others, we all also get misguided and confused in our search for happiness, and often strive for things and achievements which cannot provide genuine happiness to us. In this process we often also engage in afflictive mental states which create further suffering to us. This is generally the case for those who are causing harm as well. In addition, they will experience further suffering as a result of their current harmful actions. Understanding the cycle of suffering in this way leads to development of loving kindness and compassion towards all sentient beings. In turn, the practice of equanimity releases the divisive perceptions between us, those close to us and others, which brings us closer to realization of a non-dual state of mind.
Development of compassion together with loving kindness, rejoicing and equanimity is a stepping stone for cultivation of bodhicitta, which is sometimes described as the mind of enlightenment. Bodhicitta is often divided into relative and absolute. The relative bodhicitta describes genuine yearning to reach enlightenment as the highest state of existential well-being – a state of freedom from suffering. At the same time, there is a heartfelt wish to help others to reach that state since we recognize the shared nature of suffering which all beings experience. As part of relative bodhicitta this strong intention translates into actual meditation practice as a path to the state existential balance. In the Buddhist tradition of Dzogchen, absolute bodhicitta is the realization and sustaining of the actual state of existential balance which means ultimate freedom from our suffering and its roots. In this state we are also able to help other beings most effectively to reach freedom from suffering.
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