By Jerry Kolber
Compassion isn’t just a feeling. In fact, true compassion need not involve any particular emotions at all. Sincere compassionate action can take place when there is no sense of “Me” and “You”, “Us” or “Them”. If my left arm is itchy, my right hand reaches over to scratch it without first having to feel really, really sorry for the left arm. My right hand doesn’t need to spend a lot of time thinking of the best way to solve the problem of itching. It recognizes a degree of suffering experienced by the left arm and responds appropriately in a way that alleviates that suffering. Compassionate action is spontaneous and happens as naturally as reaching for a pillow when it’s time to go to bed at night. No thought, no great... More...
