Beyond Religion: Finding Our Inner Selves

Empathy is an innate trait that all humans have and it is the one that we most readily feel, while compassion is a feeling that must be acquired. Ascher astutely points out that “empathy is the mother of compassion” (par.13). In this noteworthy parallel, Ascher compares empathy to a nurturing mother and compassion to the fruit of her labor. Like a mother who has an inherent instinct to protect and teach her young, so too does one have an innate understanding and sensitivity to the feelings and experiences of another, and it is only from these life experiences that the birth of a new awareness is brought forth in the form of compassion. Similar to a mother’s tutelage, Ascher describes compassion as a “learned” behavior that allows one to consciously act upon the distress of others by actively alleviating it. According to Ascher, “Compassion is not a character trait like a sunny disposition. It must be learned, and it is learned by having adversity at our window…” (par.13). In other words, true compassion can only be learned when one is faced with it every day of ones life and that once it becomes “familiar”, only then it can become identifiable and conjure empathy.

“A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal”. This quote by Steve Maraboli may be hard to understand, but the Holocaust texts: Night by Elie Wiesel, “A Three Year Old Saves His Mother” by Peter Gorog and “Jakob's Story” by Jakob Blankitny are great examples of where compassion is necessary to fight the despair in heartbreaking situations. In each work, compassion shows up from unexpected sources, helps motivate people to survive, and creates greater unification.

Compassion, by definition, is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. In our modern society, compassion plays a major role in the act of kindness. Many people believe that doing a good deed is a selfless act since they do not get nothing in return. Others believe that doing a good deed to make you feel good about yourself is selfish. It is a theory that causes you to ponder on the purpose of compassion. In Barbara Lazear Ascher’s essay, On Compassion, she contemplates this theory. By using a variety of writing techniques, Ascher is able to share her views on compassion in way that speaks to the audience.

Within literature, Compassion has been described in many ways though very few descriptions have agreed on how it is best identified (Volpintesta 2011). Crowther et al (2013) describe compassion as a deep emotion that is felt by the individual practitioner allowing them to understand what the patient may be experiencing. Nussbaum (2003) argues that compassion goes beyond just understanding and identifying that emotion, it requires the practitioner to produce a response to the feeling or emotion in order to improve the situation. Dewar (2011) points out that compassion is not only about the recognition of the patients suffering but includes small

Coherent use of vocabulary and figures of speech led to a cohesive flow in the essay On Compassion, which contributes to its effectiveness. Words such as “rummages,” “navigates,” “stave,” and “expulsion,” to name a few, are robust words found within the essay that help it to appear as logically-based and well-written. Moreover, these words aid in creating the aura of compassion and gratitude, which is the purpose of the essay. Figures of speech, for instance, “Like a bridegroom waiting at the altar, his eyes pierce the white veil,” are used to make the essay more easily relatable and also provide a witty comparison to an idea that is more common.

Compassion allows humans to grow and have a hopeful future. In Hiroshima, Mr. Tanimoto showed compassion by urging people to get on a boat to safety. The victims were too weak to get on the boat. However, being selfless, Mr. Tanimoto helped the injured people get on it. This is significant because Mr. Tanimoto assisted the weak people to get on the boat to safety so they’d heal. Thus, through Mr. Tanimoto’s compassion the victims had a hope they’d survive. Furthermore,

Dalai Lama once said “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.” But how does one learn how to love or feel compassion for others? People all around the world wonder why the feel compassion for others. Most people feel compassion because it helps them understand how others are feeling so they can respond appropriately to a certain situation. Barbara Lazear Ascher, a former attorney and a current author, focused on compassion and how it is developed by people. Ascher’s purpose is to show that compassion is not something that you are born with, it is something that you have to learn and practice throughout your lifetime. A way to practice compassion is when you see homeless. Ascher’s reaches her

Humanity is constantly searching for inclusion. Everyone has an innate and incurable desire to feel like, to feel wanted, to feel needed. For many people, religion is a tool to achieving that goal. Religion is like an open door to a group of peers who are often accepting and loving all all strangers who seek embrace. However, the problem of religion arises when it becomes too self serving and the original purpose of religion is forgotten, the morality and kindness that God embodies. Illuminating the undeniable similarities between all forms of religion, religious wars become insignificant, proving the human desire to achieve superiority and dominance with their social group.

Although I disagree with Gadfly’s definition of compassion as “making people feel good,” I agree that this definition of compassion would generally be an enemy of justice. If compassion simply entails “making people feel good” then compassionate people would find it incredibly difficult to carry out justice because upholding the law would requiring making people unhappy by punishing them. However, if compassion is about “making people feel good,” then letting criminals go “scot-free” would not necessarily be compassionate since it wouldn't make the wronged party feel good. Additionally, Gadfly’s definition of compassion is decidedly ambiguous as he first juxtaposes justice with “making people feel good” and then references “real pity” rather

When I approached this statement I pondered for quite a bit. It was a bit depressing. Happiness should be exactly what it says being happy. For me, there was a period that happiness did not exist and when I reflect about this period its becomes overwhelming. This chapter in my life was dark and didn’t think that I could ever truly be happy again. With that being said, happiness to me is peace of mind,

The Idea Of Compassion The three sources that have been studied for this essay opened my mind to new ideas on what compassion really is in different ways. The first source, “Compassion Our First Instinct”, provided statistics from scientific studies and examples throughout the text. The second source, “How Do YOU Define Yourself”, provided motivational speeches and personal tales of self-compassion. The third source,”We Dine Together”, gave real-life scenarios and solutions to bullying through empathy/compassion.

British author Karen Armstrong said, "In compassion, when we feel with the other, we dethrone ourselves from the center of our world and we put another person there." In today's "me-focused" culture, we as humans frequently disregard other’s needs. For many, the main concern is how to present their best self to the world and never show any sign of weakness. I on the contrary, realize that we are damaged and hurting people who often desire a "shoulder to cry on."

Compassion is a crucial aspect of nursing; it involves seeing the patients as more than just a medical problem. Patients look to nurses as a source of comfort to help them deal with their emotions and understand their medical problems. In Norway, a study was conducted to find the role of compassion in nursing and

Religion and spirituality reach into the depths of the human psyche and strongly influence a nation’s way of life.

In conclusion the concept of compassion is an important factor in forming relationships, learn about feelings of love, kindness, trust, happiness, understand the suffering of others and our own suffering and open our hearts in search for our inner and authentic self. The similarities of the work of Palmer, Maathai and O’Donohue is discovering our feelings of helping others in our surroundings and helping ourselves because if we do not care for ourselves we would not be able to care others. The difference on the works of Palmer, Maathai and O’Donohue is that Palmer teaches us to find our true self and vocation and motivating others to do the same. Maathai empower people to value their environment, which is the source of our livelihoods and