No Compassion without Growth
Striving towards Compassion puts you in the balance. Are you willing to take the risk? Are you willing to fundamentally ‘grow’?
This is about big-c-Compassion ― not something pity-like. [see: “Essence of Compassion”]
Please also read [see: “Growth, Compassion, Love”]
Compassion will not happen without effort.
A Compassionate person doesn’t mind the effort. Like Grace [see: “Grace”], Compassion needs to be earned. Eventually, it may come spontaneously, but not by miracle, nor by talking about it. The final spontaneity is the result of effort ― sometimes a considerable amount of it.
This effort lies in personal growth. [see Cat.: “Personal Growth”] Basically, it is a development at the subconceptual level [see: “About ‘Subconceptual’”] ― thus, by definition, pretty vague. It’s easy to use the terminology without much insight. It’s easy to think one is doing great stuff in personal growth.
That is precisely a condition that may thwart it.
Humility is crucial
We’re talking about growth, becoming better, more meaningful, more ‘worthy’ as a total person, more Compassionate.
Therefore, people who want to build on Compassion in this world must understand and practice ‘humility of ego.’ [see: “Humility”] In my understanding and experience, this requires continual practice. Otherwise, the ego knows many ways to put itself on a pedestal.
The more growth as a total person – which is what we are talking about – the more the ego must stay humble, even while it finds it harder to do.
Mere-ego is like a shell that prevents all inner growth.
This shell is the basic cognitive illusion of seeing everything through invisible inner glasses. [see: “The Basic Cognitive Illusion”].
It may make anything related to the subconceptual either invisible or seem like something straightforward, childlike even. And in a way, it is. One needs to keep a beginner’s mind. [see: “Beginner’s Mind, Forever”] However, in this very same way, it is hugely complex. Beginner’s mind is – in the culture of its origin – the mind of the Zen master.
Not-knowing while knowing very well. [see: “Into the Not-Knowing”]
A meditative mindset is essential.
In a Buddhist image, the meditative mindset is the pond’s soil in which lotus flowers may grow. The flowers are acts of Compassion, big or small, life-changing or just a deep-friendly word ― which may also be life-changing.
The soil is humble, yet without it, there are no flowers.
Formal meditation (on a cushion, for instance) may not be needed, but the mindset is. This has been correctly sensed in much of Buddhism.
It is a Compassionate mindset.
At the same time, it’s what inner growth is about: growing from and towards this mindset. It’s like filling one’s inner bucket until it overflows.
Out flows Compassion. [see: “In-Depth Compassion”]
Gracefully.
Related Posts
Weaponized empathy
Empathy is one of humanity’s greatest strengths, allowing us to connect emotionally with others and feel their suffering. However, it has a darker side when it is manipulated to divide rather than unite. This is ‘weaponized empathy.’ In this, emotional resonance is exploited to amplify hostility, deepen divides, and justify acts of aggression. Understanding this Read the full article…
Why Compassion is the Future
Compassion is more than kindness — it’s a strategic necessity for a sustainable, human future. Across healthcare, business, technology, and more, it offers a unique blend of deep meaning and practical results, what can be called effecticiency. This blog explores why Compassion, as explored in Compassion, Basically, is not just a moral good, but a Read the full article…
Compassion as a Primal Instinct
Compassion is often viewed as a cultivated virtue, an act of kindness that grows from moral effort. But what if Compassion is more than that? What if it is a primal instinct, rooted in the very biology of humanity? By exploring Compassion’s evolutionary and neurological foundations, we find it is not just a reaction to Read the full article…