Roger Padilla
Compassion is the vehicle by which an individual can view the suffering of others and strive to eliminate or lessen their pain. It is a means of gaining insight on life and a way of discovering your inner-self. It is also a means of realizing your potential self and understanding your past self. Before we can be compassionate, we must follow the Buddha's golden rule and embark on a journey of self-discovery. A journey in which one learns to love themselves, the precursor to loving another being. Once you have started to feel a genuine compassion for yourself, you will be able to extend it to others. I learned about the idea of compassion through my experience with an acquaintance from high school
In "Buddha in your Backpack", we learn through Siddhartha that we must love ourselves before we are able to spread that love to others.
Compassion personified: a statue at the Epcot cent...
Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanshiyin), Shanxi Pr...
3-Way (The Golden Rule)According to the Buddha, the first truth states that suffering is inevitable. However, we may choose to sulk in our suffering or we can choose to view it in a different light. We must acknowledge our own suffering as Armstrong states, "Making ourselves aware of these small discomforts and the reality of our dukkha is an essential step towards enlightenment and compassion (Armstrong, 83). This fact made the assignment a bit harder as I had not reflected on what my suffering was, I had put it in the back of my mind for some time. I reflected on the aspects in my life that were holding me back, and came to the realization that my dukkha had no control over me. I had the power to control my own life and like I said before, I could either sulk or I could use my suffering as a catalyst to...