The Force for Good

Compassion and awareness go hand in hand. Now that we’ve taken a closer look at emotional awareness, it’s time to delve into compassion, starting with where the notion comes from in the first place.

In the Dalai Lama’s view of the concept, compassion is deep in our nature and does not come from religion. Think about it: even dogs and cats can be compassionate and altruistic to some extent. So why should compassion be bound up in religious institutions and their traditions?

Compassion is superior to and separate from religion. In fact, it is rooted in our biological makeup. Parents’ instinctive care for their young, who would otherwise die, is one sign of a biological predisposition for caring and compassion.

Moreover, our bodies have built-in needs for positive emotions such as love, joy and playfulness. These experiences help to boost our immune strength and lower the risk of heart disease. But above all, we’re psychologically predisposed to seek comfort in affection, compassion and a sense of belonging within a group.

Compassion puts our attention on something bigger than our petty concerns. This larger goal energizes us in turn. Having explored where compassion comes from and why we need it, let’s investigate how it manifests itself in our world. Find out more in the next blink!