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Define Compassion?

Compassion, as applied to Jesus` activities, is the Divinity and Humanity of Jesus. He is here deeply concerned with human needs like;- hunger, health, sorrows, distress, ''Jesus Himself wept''. And on the other hand, He washed the discples` feet meaning spiritual cleansing.

By: Gumasi Fred
Category: Jesus as Compassionate - Helping the Hurting

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Define Compassion?

I could define compassion as a strong feeling from the heart to be with the suffering of other people, frequently leading to the offer of practical help. It is unconditional in nature, being offered to all those who are suffering, without requiring anything in return. Often I tarnish my compassion with an element of bargaining: `If I give you my compassion, I want your gratitude, or respect, or your conforming to my advice in return.` Then, if I do not get that, I feel negative towards the person. Sometimes i put on a facade of apparent care or concern but my underlying thoughts are directed at protecting myselves. All human beings have a natural potential for boundless compassion, but it is often hidden behind a wall of thoughts and feelings directed at protecting our delicate `self`, or ego. To be truly compassionate my first task is to open my own hearts and, with kindness for myselve, confront my own discomfort, fear and suffering. True compassion is like the sun, always present in the sky, but sometimes hidden behind thick layers of dark clouds. For some people clouds of ego-protecting thought never reveal the sun of compassion; for most of us the sun appears for varying intervals. The best way to let my natural compassion flow is to increase my level of mindfulness, in formal meditation and in everyday life. When i carefully notice the thoughts and feelings appearing from moment to moment in the mind, i begin to see them as natural phenomena that arise, exist for a while, then cease of their own accord. i do not need to judge them as good or bad, right or wrong. I need to neither repress them nor indulge in them. When I have angry, fearful, judgmental or blaming thoughts I need no longer act immediately in unskillful ways; instead I can wait for them to pass and then act out of wisdom. By paying close attention to the clouds of thoughts, I can see the gaps between them and sense the presence of the sun of compassion behind them. I also begin to see that suffering is universal in all sentient beings. I will all face suffering during our lives. It seems that the essential reason why I find it difficult to relate to other people`s suffering is our sense of being a totally separate person. Imagine a deep, wide, river flowing along. Suddenly it falls over a high precipice. The river becomes a waterfall, breaking up into myriads of droplets. Each droplet seems separate, buffeted about by external forces, fighting for its very existence. But at the bottom of the waterfall all the drops merge back into a river, all separateness gone. We humans are rather like the drops of water, forgetting that we are always part of the great river of life. The sense of separateness is really an illusion. Everything on the planet, everything in the universe is interconnected. From this perspective, another person`s suffering is our suffering. True compassion arises naturally when our ego-protecting thoughts begin to die down. We can aid that process by being mindful, opening our hearts to our own discomfort and pain, and being compassionate towards ourselves. When the painful barrier of separateness begins to crumble, compassion flows outwards from the heart, unconditionally to all beings.

By: Olivia Babirye
Category: Jesus as Compassionate - Helping the Hurting

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Define Compassion?

Compassion is being deeply moved by a situation, feeling sorry, sympathetic, concerned and considerate for the suffering someone is enduring. Then being willing to help out and having the caring heart to even touch the unclean. All these is seen in the quotations given of Jesus` work.

By: Aneno Lilly Florence
Category: Jesus as Compassionate - Helping the Hurting

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