Compassion. A central part of Buddhism. How and what ways can we give and show compassion? On the superficial, dictionary meaning, compassion means to be sympathetic. However, in Buddhism, compassion is a little more than that. Compassion also incorporates the practice of loving-kindness and putting others before yourself. So what can we do?
Being compassionate is more than just being nice. To be a truly compassionate person, one needs to be free from an ego that needs reciprocation from good actions or words. If we see someone who needs help, helping them should be automatic without having to think about it. Sometimes this happen, “Oh, that person dropped her stuff. Maybe I should help her,” and then you help them. This is not everyone, obviously. If someone isn’t used to being very compassionate or generous, it’ll take time and effort for that automatic attitude to develop.
Practicing loving-kindness meditation can really help you and others around you. When we practice loving-kindess, we almost radiate with this calm, happy energy that gives us the patience and tolerance to deal with difficult people. Loving-kindess allows us to love everyone, no matter who or what they are. It gives us this peace of mind that’s needed to overcome many things people might throw at us. And when people see this, they might stop and wonder for a second – if they can handle this and be this calm, maybe I can too! Be the example, show people what it means to be compassionate and to practice loving-kindness.
Back to compassion. Showing and giving compassion isn’t just strictly for people, we must show and give compassion to all sentient beings! To all our pets, the birds that poop on our cars, the bee that seems to be following you as you walk, the cat that hangs around your house, the rat that might be hiding out in the house somewhere – to all sentient beings, because they all have Buddha Nature just like we do, they all have the same potential we do to become a Buddha, so we must treat them so. Sometimes it might be a little frustrating to not want to punish your dog for eating your gorgeous shoes from https://vessifootwear.com/, annoyed by the neighbors dog barking all night, the rat in the house, or mosquitoes everywhere, but to be compassionate is to forgive and love.
So, as far as animals and bugs go, of course they deserve our compassion, too. If you do have a rat in the house, for example, or a bee hive in your yard, bats in the attic, or whatever else – you first want to try to capture them and let them loose somewhere away from your house. If you have to kill, say a prayer or something like, “I am sorry for taking your life. May you reborn in a better life,” or something like that, and make a bow before you do what you have to do.
Of course, the normal, mundane things of being nice like helping the old lady pack her groceries in her car, helping your neighbor move their trash cans, holding the door for something, paying the remainder of the person’s grocery bill infront of you if they were a few dollars short, or giving to the homeless – any act of kindness and generosity is being compassionate.
It’s always important to smile! Smiling, I think, is also an act of compassion, because it can change someone’s mood from not-so-great to a little better. People always remember when you sincerely smile at them, and when you smile at them it gives them the sense that you care, so that makes them feel better and they smile too. If someone calls you and you answer the phone and talk to them while smiling, though they might not be able to see you, they’ll be able to sense and feel you smiling over the phone. They’ll be able to hear it in your voice, and in turn it’ll make them smile as well.
Be an example, an ideal of a beautiful, kind, generous, compassionate person. Don’t do it because you’re Buddhist, do it because you want to better yourself and better the world around you. Even if you only affect and change one person, that’s one less person in the world who’ll suffer, and that person will hopefully do the same for others, and then those other people will do the same for more people, and it’ll go on and on.
Smile and be well!