Compassion
There are two aspects of compassion which demonstrate the idea of this divine state: one is an active polarity and the other a passive pole of unwavering spiritual integrity. In its active role compassion is an inrush of God, a momentary obliteration of existence and the petty concerns of man. This is the random arising to the sensory awareness of the compassion of God or life for the suffering and undergoing in the struggle of all things in existence. This impersonal energy when invoked is deeply cathartic and cleansing of the corruption of force in matter. In my own experience the intensity of this revelatory energy is only momentary. But when it happens, such is the impact that the knowledge is retained in consciousness forever as a facet of the spiritual being.
The passive function of compassion is a quality of abstract light which shines through the flesh of the body and is sometimes referred to as presence. This is the self-knowledge accrued from having passed through many of the challenges and hardships of the human condition. Thus the living essence of compassion is the recognition in another life form of what I have been as part of my own earth experience. It is the living testimony of what has not been forgotten when I, too, was steeped in ignorance and the unknowing of what was behind the appearance of the sensory world.
It is compassion which keeps a teacher of truth from being arrogant and looking down on their fellow man and woman. This essential quality of being is often absent in self-proclaimed young ‘gurus’ who come forward to declare themselves before it’s time. And yet everything serves that which is below it in the rectification of ignorance. Compassion is the finest thread of glory essence, which is man and woman’s becoming as the excellence of humanity. When compassion merges with the unknowable but all-pervasive God, the supernal idea of existence shines through from the silence of the black.
In evolutionary terms, compassion serves the greater good as an impulse of the human spirit to serve or alleviate the suffering in another. In this the individual eliminates to some extent the pain and trauma of their own future earth existence. As intelligence delves deeper into the exploration of science and medicine, so correspondingly inspirational ideas are released from the realms of higher mind. Thus through the grace of divine compassion, anaesthetics and other pain-reducing discoveries are provided so that we need not undergo the same degree of suffering that others once endured.
Another word for compassion is love; but this is not sentimental or human love. Compassion is love at its finest octave in the absence of the mind’s interpretation of existence. And yet love, if it is truly divine, encompasses both the beauty and the squalid stench of the world as a totality of self. Divine compassion is to walk through the world but not be moved or fooled by its phoney pretences. In this an individual can see without condemning and live without believing. Such a being will serve in whatever they do, perhaps unrecognised in their ordinary lives yet touched by love in bringing compassion into the world where it is so desperately needed.
Photo: Skye Meaker
Thank you, So well illustrated.
It is a wonderful word and does go some way in showing we are worthy of partaking in this world.
“Divine compassion is to walk through the world but not be moved or fooled by its phoney pretences.” How does one do this? I have found that when we live with the intent to give unconditionally, we inevitably find some people who will take and take until they have drained every ounce of your Being, mentally, physically, emotionally etc. I have struggled with this understanding, because to stop offering or walk away seems to be a lack of compassion, yet continuing with the dependency feels foolish. It seems compassion shouldn’t be blind sacrifice, but there must be a wisdom I don’t understand. Thank you.
Hello Sam
The error is living with ‘intent to give unconditionally’. Is it truly serving another to give in to their demands or expectations or does it just perpetuate their wilfulness and undermine your own integrity? In true giving there’s no choice, for in that sacred exchange both giver and receiver share in the unity of the moment, which is love without taint of self or intent.
Wisdom comes from being responsible for your own living life. Inherent within this state of being is the discrimination of whom or what to serve and this is determined by the moment. It may be that you walk past the beggar in the street, well aware of their need, but do nothing. Why is this? Because it wasn’t in their lights to receive anything from you. Next day you may do something to help another, but the point is that it will be in that person’s lights to receive from you. Either way an individual will not make a problem or judge themselves as having failed or succeeded in living up to any ideal of holiness.
The person, with all of their concepts of what’s right and wrong, good and bad, is the problem. This has created a nucleus of confusion called a conscience. It’s impossible to be truly compassionate while a slave to a conscience. When a man or woman is responsible for life, the conscience disappears (it was only a mental constraint anyway) and what remains is the clarity of mind which sees straight without distortion.
The explanation about walking past the beggar and then doing something fairly significant to help someone in need of a leg up monetary- wise is profoundly true and enlightening and what is the conscience if it is not the ego’s condemnation in saying – this is good this is bad? Brilliant – it has dis-spelled an illusion that has had me in its grip
more times than I care to remember. When we are conflicted and say ‘I must’ or ‘I should’ we should see a red light and hear ringing bells!
Thank you – thank you Lance. You so have the knack of reminding us of what we really know to be the truth of the matter deep down. The heart won’t deceive us but the head will. Sometimes it is hard to know the difference while dealing with the ego who is out to confuse matters, but this essay makes it very clear. Thank you again.