What is Compassion?

Compassion:

Compassion, like mindfulness is not new. It has been around for centuries within the contemplative traditions. Within the Eastern philosophy compassion is regarded as one of Four Immeasurable qualities or faculties of the mind already present and accessible to us all. These four qualities of the mind are loving kindness; the wish for everyone to be happy and find the causes for happiness, compassion; the wish for everyone to be free from suffering and the causes of suffering, empathetic joy; rejoicing in the happiness of others and equanimity; unbiased to all.

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the notion of compassion as an approach to self care and self healing. Research within the field of Positive Psychology is beginning to provide evidence to show how positive emotional experiences actually expands mindsets by broadening cognition resulting in development of positive coping skills and resilience.

From a neurological point of view research has shown that by consciously generating positive emotions such as compassion (the wish for self and others to be free from suffering and the causes of suffering) or loving kindness (the wish for self and others to be happy) will eventually change the circuitry in the brain, resulting in the development of a mood or a temperament prone to positive emotional states.

In Western approaches compassion is often taught as a way to develop kindness and care towards oneself. However, in the Eastern traditions compassion has a dual responsibility one to take care of self and others, it is never one sided.