compassion

Joan halifax

dali lama: love and compassion are necessities, they are not luxuaries, without them humanity cannot survive.

a line from mahabrarata - the great indian epic: 

In the Hindu epic Mahabharata,Yudhisthira (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, yudhiṣṭhira) was the eldest son of King Panduand Queen Kunti and the king of Indraprastha and later of Hastinapura (Kuru). For his piety, he was known as Dharmaraja. He was the leader of the successful Pandava side in the Kurukshetra War. At the end of the epic, he ascended to heaven.

By the description of Vyasa and Krishna the king was fair and lotus-eyed, with a long and stout nose, tall and strong but humble like any other citizen.

what is the most wondrous thing in the world yudhisthira?

and yudhisthira replied 'the most wonderous thing in the world is that all around us people can be dyign and we dont realise it can happen to us.' 

'the strength that arises when natural compassion is really present'

'what is compassion comprised of? first compassion is comprised of that capacity to see clearly into the nature of suffering it is that ability to really stand strong and to recognise that 'i am not separate from this suffering', but that is not enough, because compassion that activates the moto context  means that we aspire to transform suffering and if we are so blessed, we engage in activities that transform suffering.' 

but compassion has another component and that component is really essential and that components is that we can't be attached to the outcome. now i worked with dying people for 6 years ... and i realised so clearly that bringing my own life experience from working with dying people and training care givers, that attachment to outcome, would distort deeply my won capacity to be fully present to the whole catastrophy' - doctors, nurses 

compassion has enemies...fear. 

we have a society that is paralysed by fear in that paralasis of course our capacity for compassion is also paralysed. the very work terror is global, the feeling of terror is global, so our work in a certain way is to address this imago,  that case provaded our phychi of our entire globe.'  

'if compassion is so good for us i have a question, why dint we train our children in compassion?' 

In the Hindu epic Mahabharata,Yudhisthira (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, yudhiṣṭhira) was the eldest son of King Pandu and Queen Kunti and the king of Indraprastha and later of Hastinapura (Kuru). For his piety, he was known as Dharmaraja. He was the leader of the successful Pandava side in the Kurukshetra War. At the end of the epic, he ascended to heaven.
Filmed December 2010 at TEDWomen 2010