Day 28: Compassion Cultivation

Welcome to 40 Days of Mindfulness and Compassion Day 28!

 

Lecture

 In his book A Fearless Heart, Thupten Jinpa describes compassion as a natural tendency that we all have, but one that is often obscured. However, with training we can cultivate compassion so that it is both stronger and more readily available. It can also be broadened; when compassion is extended to those “outside of our comfort zone,” maybe even to individuals and groups that we dislike.

When I speak on compassion I sometimes use phrases to describe it like “paradoxical” and “counterintuitive.” As we work with compassion cultivation practices, it is my experience that compassion is often discovered and experienced as something very different than what we thought that it would be. Compassion cultivation is full of surprises and paradoxes.

One paradoxical aspect of compassion is that it seems to be linked to resiliency. After undergoing training in compassion cultivation, research suggests that individuals may be better able to maintain healthy psychologically functioning (i.e. be less distressed) in the face of stress or distress. In other words, compassion may buffer the effects of being confronted with distress.

To me, this is counterintuitive because compassion is often thought of as a weakness. It is thought of as a strong feeling akin to pity or sympathy and is sometimes described as feeling sorry for someone. But, in actuality, it is far different from this.

Studies by neuroscientists indicate that compassion cultivation may stimulate functioning in parts of the brain associated with positive affect. This accords with first-hand evidence of teaching compassion cultivation classes in which it is often reported, sometimes with astonishment, that compassion feels good. Again, this flies in the face of common assumptions about compassion.

Compassion is strong and compassion is uplifting. It involves, to some degree, an ability to turn toward suffering in a gentle and safe, but strong way. Learning again and again to come back to suffering and meet it with kindness and support builds a type of resiliency.

An effective way of approaching this is by using a friend or loved one as the object of the practice. In this straightforward meditation it is good to choose someone who naturally makes us smile or puts us in a good mood. The purpose here is to access our compassion and not to explore compassion for someone that we think we should. The practice guides us into an exploration of compassion using a loved one as the frame of reference.

It is a very simple practice, but an effective one if done regularly.

 

Meditation

 

Meditation Day 28: Cultivating our Natural Compassion

 

Self-Reflective Activity

Throughout your day, as you engage with others, silently recite in your mind “May you be happy. May you be free from suffering.”

 

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