The Secret of Empathy, Enlightenment, and Internal Growth There are two senses of reality: external and internal. External reality is an observable universe, but perspectives differ and thus cause different opinions. To experience internal reality is to confuse one’s own reality with a shared reality, resulting in a loss of empathy and disregarding how others are affected. An external mindset displays an understanding of different opinions in a shared world, whereas with internal mindset a person’s devotion to a belief becomes their private world. When a person is passionate about their beliefs they tend to disregard other perspectives, or live internally. This is a common practice because, depending upon upbringing, different moral values have been instilled in the person. Typically, people will not partake in activities or actions that defy their morality, so they tend to align with others who share similar values. However, people who are unwilling to think beyond their own beliefs lose their sense of empathy. The more devoted a person is to their morals, the less empathy they might have. When we look outside ourselves to other perspectives, we can better connect to an external rather than simply an internal reality, approaching the world with an enlightened state of mind capable of both empathy and consistent growth. A less narrow-minded person is capable of accessing an external reality. Typically, it seems that the more devout citizens are more closed-minded. They
In "Compassion and the Individual," Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, describes a good person as a person who is compassionate towards everyone and everything. Towards the end of his essay, Gyatso states, “I believe that at every level of society - familial, tribal, national and international - the key to a happier and more successful world is the growth of compassion.” He says that people should be compassionate to not only friends but enemies too. This is a very superior quality for a good person, although, I believe there are certain exceptions. Also, towards the end of the middle it states, “We should begin by removing the greatest hindrances to compassion: anger and hatred.” If a person removes ager from their life, then they
An empathy theory is different ways that offer psychological explanations of empathy as being not only a persons capacity to share their emotions with others but also their ability to engage emotively with the world and the people around them and with the intentions underlying art, music and literature. A few of these theories come from;
Empathy is the theme which connects the reader with the characters in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird; the experiences of the characters in this novel show us the significance of empathy as a theme. Harper Lee writes about the experiences which Scout and Jem undergo in learning to be empathetic, while Atticus and Tom Robinson are two of the key characters who, at the time of the novel already possessed the ability to be empathetic.
It is important to note that a worldview is not immediate as it developed over the course of one’s lifetime and passed on from generation to generation through factors such as tradition, beliefs, education, political orientation, mass media, and social interaction. When a child is born, they do not know what is moral or immoral, acceptable or unacceptable or have any attitudes and beliefs; they do not have a worldview. For the most of our lives, these worldviews develop in us over time, and we take them for granted, and so they just remain below the surface of our consciousness or awareness. Typically as human beings, we are partially conscious of the world views we have, and it is to mean that we are not fully aware of them. The development and comprehension of our worldviews are an evolution and a process, and for this reason, the world views evolve in a direct response to our collective cultural histories and individual and unique life experiences. Consequently, depending on the type of worldview we adopt in the
Are people born with a complete quandary when it comes to compassion or is it something that has always been there? Barbara Lazear Ascher, born in 1946, writes, “On Compassion.” Having lived in New York City, Ascher is able to take first hand examples from the city to show the affection people have towards each other. Ascher is able to illustrate that compassion is something that has to be taught because of the adversity at people’s heels by including tone, persuasive appeals, and the mode of comparing and contrast in her essay, “On Compassion.”
The purpose of this essay is to question the readers. Ascher wants the audience to analyze themselves to determine the reason behind why people show kindness, whether it is out of fear, pity, or compassion.
Every human being has a worldview whether they are aware of it or not. Although the notion of a worldview might appear basic in nature, the word itself simply meaning how one views the world around them, worldviews are much more complex and far reaching. A worldviews development occurs over the course of a lifetime, shaped by the complex and unique experiences of an individual and the sum of family traditions, religious beliefs and cultural histories. It is an all-encompassing interpretation of reality that plays a central and defining role in our attitudes and concepts about life. While worldviews are formed based on the answers to fundamental questions about human existence, they simultaneously shape
Often when using the words of empathy and compassion, many people envision them as having similar meaning. While they may share similar circumstances, they are actually quite different. Empathy is more of an emotional response with an understanding of a person’s particular situation; whereas compassion is an emotion that arouses an active response to alleviate a distressful situation. Nevertheless, these dissimilar expressions are paramount in the way people respond to the individual needs of others and how they reach out to others in their local communities. Barbara Lazear Ascher’s essay “On Compassion” not only creatively offers a very detailed description of the day in the life in New York City, but effectively draws a picture of
The art of human caring is one of the most essential parts of the nursing profession. Caring is not something that you learn to do, but something that is within you. In nursing, it is important to know what kind of nurse you want to be as well as the care you intend to provide to your patients. The patient is the center of nursing, and it is your responsibility to make sure they are receiving the best care that they can receive. One of the most important things is to be able to set aside personal beliefs and morals in order to provide patient centered care. The way that you approach and care for a patient is either going to make or break the effect of the care you will be implementing to the patient.
An individual’s worldviews affect how they go about finding the truth. It can make us see things in a way that is not right but also can help us see a solution to a problem. Our worldview can be based off of our moral, values, and beliefs. Individual worldview may even change over time. Whatever our worldviews are that is what we see as the truth (Entwistle, 2010).
In The Heart of Understanding, Thich Nhat Hanh’s uses simple but powerful words and real world examples to illustrate the profound Buddhist philosophy from the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, an important representative of Mahayana Buddhist literature. The Mahayana school of Buddhist teachings emphasizes the doctrine of Sunyata- emptiness. The doctrine of emptiness, one of the most important Mahayana innovations, focuses on the relational aspect of existence. Thich Nhat Hanh coins and introduces a new word- interbeing to explain the state of emptiness. This idea of interbeing not only illustrates emptiness well but also provides understanding of other fundamental Buddhist ideas such as No-Self, impermanence and non-duality.
Throughout the life cycle, a person undergoes many changes. One matures both physically and emotionally as time passes. Emotional growth is quite often more difficult than physical growth. A person must realize his faults and admit to them before he can develop emotionally, while one does not need any self-analyzation to develop physically. In her book Ordinary People, Judith Guest depicts the struggles man must experience in order to reach his ideal emotional perfection. Conrad, the book's protagonist, and his father Calvin, were both searching for higher levels of emotional health. Conrad had to let out and face all the feelings he had repressed, while Calvin had to correct
Kurt Vonnegut smashes the fourth wall of Breakfast of Champions almost instantly. He begins the first chapter by acknowledging the fictional nature of the book he is narrating; although one could argue that the true first break does not occur until the fourth paragraph in which Vonnegut addresses the reader directly, urging them to “[listen]” (Vonnegut 7). This command to “listen” becomes a staple throughout the book, an occasional nudge to wake the reader up and make them pay attention. In truth, the fourth wall of Breakfast of Champions is not so much broken as it is vanished, as if it had never existed to begin with. The reader is constantly reminded that they are in a book, that these are characters not people, that Dwayne will go on a rampage and hurt several people, and that the man who is writing the book believes that the book he is writing is not very good. Vonnegut takes the concept of breaking the fourth to its ultimate and logical conclusion by fully entering the world of the text itself as a character on page one hundred ninety-seven, no longer content to remain a mere omniscient, omnipotent narrator.
Since its establishment as a profession more than a century ago, Nursing has been a source for numerous debates related to its course, methods and development of nursing knowledge. Many nursing definitions and theories have evolved over time. Furthermore it is in a constant process of being redefined.
I know rights from wrongs from my mother and family taught and model; our beliefs are also based from a religion perspective and culture raise. Yet when you are in the panorama things are different, the pressure of the group and/ or circumstances can make you in an instant twist your beliefs, if you are not strong enough.