🔼: [[☀️ Loving-Kindness (Metta)]], [[Qualities of Presence ☀️]], [[☀️ Self-Energy]] ## ☀️ Compassion (Karuna) >"Compassion moves us beyond numbness towards healing." >— [[👤 Anton Chekov]] Also known as the Pali and Sanskrit word "Karuna," Compassion is [[☀️ Loving-Kindness (Metta)]] in the presence of [[💡 Suffering|Suffering]], the daily practice of recognizing and accepting our shared humanity with the desire to bring relief to those who suffer.[^1] ###### Keys - [[🔑 Compassion is more important than methodology]] - [[🔑 We need both Compassion and Empathy]] - [[🔑 We are all blameless]] - [[🔑 Everyone everywhere is doing their best all the time]] - Anything that is wrong to do to another person is also wrong to do to yourself. Treat yourself the way you want to be treated. - It's normal for Compassion to be difficult to access, especially if our [[💡 Parts|Parts]] have been [[💡 Polarization|at war with one another]] for a long while. - We can have Compassion *and* set [[🕯️ Boundaries]]. - [[🔑 The Near Enemy of Compassion is Pity]] - [[🔑 The most compassionate people have boundaries of steel]] ###### Radical Self-Compassion: The Compassion of [[💡 Presence|Presence]] >"If your [[☀️ Compassion]] doesn't extend to yourself, it's incomplete." > — [[👤 Jack Kornfield]] Self-compassion is compassion from [[💡 Presence|Presence]] to [[💡 Parts|Parts]] – from an unwavering knowing that [[🔑 There are no bad Parts]] and an acknowledgement of their wounds and suffering. Such compassion cures [[💡 Shame|shame]] and helps our [[💡 Parts|Parts]] release their [[💡 Burdens 🪨|Burdens]]. The more we learn about ourselves and [[🔑 We are all blameless|🔑 how blameless we are]] for what's happened to us, the more we hear our [[💡 Parts|Parts]] secret histories, the easier Self-Compassion becomes as our [[💡 Protector Parts|Protectors]] start to understand each other. [[💡 Presence|Presence]] is an inexhaustible fountain of compassion. [[💡 Presence|Presence]] is nurturing and can hold space and support our [[💡 Parts|Parts]] through all pain. Our [[💡 Parts|Parts]] can recognize this, and it helps them feel safe and cared for and want to [[☀️ Connection|☀️ connect]] with us. When we're [[🕯️ Unblending|unblended]], we genuinely care about and want to support struggling [[💡 Parts|Parts]], people, and other beings. [[💡 Presence|Presence]] has compassion even for [[💡 Parts|Parts]] who have disrupted or complicated our lives. Similar Qualities: Kindness, [[🕯️ Love]], Care, Presence, Patience, Acceptance, Warmth, Forgiveness, Open-heartedness, Heartfulness, Friendliness ###### Tapping into Compassion >”When we practice generating compassion we come to experience our fear of pain. Compassion practice is daring. It involves learning to relax and allow ourselves to move gently toward what scares us. In cultivating compassion we draw from the wholeness of our experience. Our suffering, our [[💡 Empathy|empathy]], as well as our cruelty and terror — it has to be this way. Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded, **it’s a relationship between equals**. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.” > — [[👤 Pema Chödrön]] - [[🧘 Loving-Kindness (Metta) Meditation]] - [[🧘 Tonglen]] - [[💡 Sonder]] [^1]: [[📖 ✅ Atlas of the Heart (Show)]] Episode 5