i've been thinking a lot lately about compassion. i feel like in order to understand the meaning of the word it must be broken down. the prefix of the word, "com" means with or together. the word passion means "any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate". so combined, compassion quite literally means feeling a powerful feeling together. my own instinct when defining compassion is feeling bad for someone. if someone is hurt and we show compassion, we show that we "feel for" them. in fact we are not supposed to just "feel for" them but instead "feel with" them. we are supposed to completely take their feelings onto ourselves and get on their level. it is not enough to feel bad for the people in haiti; in order to be compassionate we must take their sorrow upon ourselves and share in their grief. this is far deeper than any definition i could have come up with.
to have compassion on someone, we have to get on their level. whether that be in joy or sorrow, we need to literally share their feelings to understand them and be able to alleviate suffering. we need to laugh with people, cry with people. to love with them. to step out of our own thoughts and feelings and accept those of others. compassion is a selfless and difficult act committed by a person whose love is so overflowing that it extends to and envelopes the receiver. only then can we share in passion with another person.
it seems compassion is less about feeling "for" and more about "with"
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