Indeed, perhaps this compassion is what in fact enlightenment is ...

the short and continually observed answer is that our conduct on this earth (or 'earthly plane', as some more ethereal/pompous souls would have it) is our continual test, a flesh and blood scenario to see how we treat each other- the most telling test, to me, is the treatment of animals. almost anyone can fake compassion, certainly love, with humans, but not with animals. perhaps it is a banal example, but i have 3 cockatiels, and they keep me more sincere, honest....well, you cannot fake anything with them, even if your baser soul is tempted. is this horizontal honesty? i love them from some indefinable nobility that they create, not me, alas! i recently read an article in a reputable science journal, that even the stones are alive! my pantheism (or whatever) felt validated. is there not a bible admonition that whatever you do to the least, you do to me (jesus)? but i am ignorant, honestly, because we must tread the grass, alas, but i remember as a child seeing cats set on fire by my peers- i apologize, that is so horrible, but the past came unbidden and flayed my mind. i ramble, so adieu. danielhaggard@fuse.net

Thank you for your post Marina. We all equate the boddhisatva way with the term 'compassion' but I feel it is important to recognize the source of this compassion. In reading some of the posts on this subject, I get the sense that all of you have a very strong conviction to show compassion to all beings. However, I feel your outlooks are decidedly dualistic. Buddhism is not about doing good things for others, the latter is more akin to altruism than anything else. Think about it- the tale of Siddhartha would be a lot less agonizing if all that was required was that he decide to treat people nicely, with compassion. The story would go something like this, "Siddhartha sneaks out of the castle, sees that people suffer, get ill, die, etc, and resolves himself to helping those in need with the vast resources of his monarchy and his desire to help people." Instead, we read of him leaving the castle and putting himself through the extremes of aescetic practice- starvation, lack of sleep, etc., for years on end. Through his unimaginable suffering and determination, Siddhartha finally awakens to/ dissolves into, his fundamental condition of oneness with all beings. It is from this place of oneness that compassion in the buddhist sense is derived. Without it, your compassion will be hopelessly weak- it will fail you when someone hurts you or threatens you, it will fail you when you get ill, it will fail you when you are tired and exhausted, it will be as fragile and impermament as the flesh of our bodies. Thus I find it absurd to talk of "having compassion." Compassion, in the true sense, is not had, is not felt, is not expressed.

namaste

Thank you for posting that quote.

It brings several things to mind.

The first was a memory of a passage from some of MLK's writings. About how to live a full life we must live in three dimensions (connection to horizontal). We have the length of our life. We have the breadth (horizontal) of life in our connections with those we share the planet with. And there is the depth of our life which is our interactions with our "higher power"/God/Tao/whathaveyou.

Brought to mind a passage from That Nanh's _Living Buddha, Living Christ_ about having many roots to our spirituality for strength and health.

Our horizontal living ... has a lot to do with our compassion, I believe.

In my interactions with others is how I learn compassion, by example and by word. It is how I excercise my compassion muscle. It is my foundation, my roots to enlightenment.

There was compassion when my Mother fed me, giving of her very body to sustain me. There was compassion when my dog tugged my sleeve to keep me from danger. There was compassion when those things turned around and I returned the care to Mother, dog, and others. Without the horizontal, how do I taste compassion, how do I grow and spread?

snowfalcon