Thursday, March 24, 2011

Living Compassionate Lives

You probably know Karen Armstrong's name. She's the religious historian. She's recently published TWELVE STEPS TO A COMPASSIONATE LIFE. (New York. Alfred A. Knopf, 2011.) What is compassion? Why would we want to live a compassionate life?

According to one on-line dictionary, compassion is, “Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/compassion , retrieved January 29, 2011) One way to relieve suffering is to reduce causes of suffering. Armstrong tells us that the central tenant of each of the world's major religions is what we know as the “golden rule.” She traces the emergence of the golden rule from Confucius's teaching, saying, “Compassion, therefore, was inseparable from humanity; instead of being motivated by self-interest, a truly humane person was consistently oriented toward others.” (Op. Cit., p. 10)

As restated by Muhammad: "No man is a true believer unless he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.” http://www.freewebs.com/muslims_unite/sayingoftheprophetm.htm (Attributed to Muhammad). Retrieved Jan. 29, 2011

She asserts that what has made compassionate thinking (and living) possible was the development of the modern human brain. She says that we humans inherited our survival drives from our reptilian forbears, and those are centered in the hypothalamus, at the base of our brains. But we also evolved “new brains,” the neocortex, where we reason. And humans learned to look out for one another as we learned to live in groups or tribes.

As people began to live in cities, some had the leisure to think, and to understand how the species must go forward. It was during this time that the Israelites began to unify and codify their values and beliefs, and from these arose the modern monotheistic faith traditions. Following the Mosaic Law – honor your parents, don't kill and don't steal or covet – the prophets began to clarify and modernize. Hosea says God wants us to be merciful to others, rather than just following the rituals:

“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice...” Hosea 6:6

About mercy: Mohammed is said to have rebuked his followers for failing to show compassion. "But we do show compassion," they responded, "to our wives, children and relatives." The Prophet insisted, "It is not this to which I refer. I am speaking of universal mercy." http://www.all-creatures.org/murti/tsnhod-11.html. Retrieved January 29, 2011.

Amos decries the oppression of the poor and calls for justice: “You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain...and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts...” (Amos 5: 11-12)

Jesus teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and this teaching restates the golden rule. And the Qur'an repeats this:

“Show kindness to parents and kindred, to orphans and to the helpless, to near and distant neighbors, to those that keep company with you, to the traveler in need, and to the slaves you own.” Qur'an 4:36 (Translated by N.J. Dawood. Penguin Books 1990)

Mercy, justice, love and kindness are conditions which all of us desire for ourselves. They each represent different faces of compassion. So: Why would we want to live compassionate lives? Because, by living with compassion, we act on our words. We are doing to others what we would want them to do to/for/with us.