Monday 21 March 2016

Compassion - The power of the soul!



      It was a chilly afternoon.  We were all warmly clothed and cozily seated, watching a television show.  Suddenly my mother got up and went outside.  After a few minutes she came in and sat again.  Curiosity got the better of me and I went out to see what had distracted my mother.
      Just outside the window was a ledge where a kitten lay huddled.  It was now covered by a small quilt.  I was overwhelmed by emotion.  My mother’s compassion had encompassed the kitten in its warmth.  Such a thoughtful gesture it was!  Being unsolicited it was all the more appealing.  The incident showed that she cared! She was filled with compassion.
     Open-mindedness is also an interesting aspect of compassion.  There are no boundaries drawn here.  Partiality is a stranger to compassion.  One cannot be compassionate to one and dispassionate towards another.  A compassionate person always wishes well for everyone.  His generosity in thoughts as well as deeds invokes admiration and inspires others to emulate his endearing trait. 
     Even tolerance to the needs of others means compassion.  A compassionate person avoids hurting people by being sensitive to their needs when they want it the most.  Thus my friend Jyoti always sees to it that the volume of the radio is lessened when her husband comes home after an exhausting day at work.  She anticipates her husband’s need for some quiet moments of relaxation.  She lets him sit for sometime without immediately nagging him to go and have a wash.  She has her priorities right and yes, she is compassionate!
     “To err is human, to forgive divine!”  How rightly said!  Indeed it takes a lot to forgive and forget.  The will-power to rise above petty thoughts of hatred and vengeance is another manifestation of compassion.  Hence a convict sentenced to death can be pardoned by the President of India, overruling the verdict of the Supreme Court, the ultimate Court of Law in our country.  Such a pardon will of course be governed by compassion, more than anything else. 
     The love and compassion that we feel for our near and dear ones is compassion.  This affection becomes an endearing quality when it extends to strangers too.  It’s compassion which urged Mother Teresa to make a home away from home, in India.  Her life had been dedicated to the cause of the suffering people.  A splendid example of simple living and high thinking!  She had shown the world how compassion can be put into practice and can be made a way of life.
      Compassion need not necessarily be shown only by actions.  Though actions speak louder than words!  A few words of encouragement or cheering to a depressed soul, a kind look at a tired husband, even an indulgent glance towards a boisterous kid can spell compassion.
     When one understands the trauma of an anguished person, who is undergoing tremendous physical or mental strain and empathizes with him, becomes one with his suffering, he is being compassionate; even if he doesn’t verbally express his sympathy for him. 
     An employee, who has been unjustly fired by an irate boss, often finds solace in a mute glance of empathy by a colleague.  Isn’t this a good example of compassion?  Can anyone miss the simplicity of expressing compassion here?
     We may therefore infer that though compassion must be palpable, it needn’t be overt.  One need not go out of the way to be compassionate.  It must essentially come from the warmth of one’s soul.  It must be made a way of life.  This is precisely what the essence of all religions is.  It’s more important to be humane than human.
     It’s this sentiment which compelled Lord Gautam Buddha and Lord Mahavir to renounce material comforts and spend a life-time of search for salvation.  Their lives were enriched by compassion.  No wonder they founded religions based solely on compassion.
     Again it was this virtue which urged Mahatma Gandhi to work for the upliftment of the downtrodden, the social reformers to strive for the betterment of society and social-workers like Baba Amte, Vinoba Bhave and Mother Teresa to dedicate their lives to the suffering populace.  Thus sacrifice of worldly pleasures and selfish considerations enhances commitment.  This commitment to a cause, to a cherished ideal, is a garb of compassion.
     Compassion is that power of one’s soul which can transform hardened criminals into loving people and also pull people out of the clutches of vices like drug addiction, smoking and drinking.  Comforting reassurance is all that is needed to give a new direction to aimless or misguided lives. 
     A word of caution would do well here.  Compassion should never be confused with mercy.  When one helps another out of pity, the helper sub-consciously assumes a superior position, which might conceal arrogance.  The fact that you can; and have actually helped someone out, itself gives a ‘high’, which obliterates the nobler sentiment of compassion.  So one’s intentions must be pure and there must be no ulterior motive. 
     Compassion is a virtue which must be innate.  It need not be taught.  It can’t be enforced.  It must spring from the need to genuinely show one’s consideration for another, who may be a fellow human-being or any other living creature.
     This emotion stems from the necessity to be good and do goodness.  One must mean well.  Such compassion draws strength from its own existence.  It does not care for awards or rewards.  It follows the dictum of the Bhagwat Gita ‘Do your duty without bothering about the rewards’.
          Compassion is therefore a winning combination of Caring, Open-mindedness, Mindfulness, Pardon, Affection, Sincerity, Simplicity and selflessness, Innate behavior, Open-heartedness and Necessity of being good and meaning well.
      We may aptly conclude that compassion is a virtue which will undoubtedly win many hearts and consequently make our life more worthwhile.  

The copyright of this article is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.

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