There are many Sanskrit words for compassion, and the range of their meanings is great and highly nuanced. One of these Sanskrit terms, dayā, can also mean “mercy,” “sympathy for life,” or “loving kindness.” Dayā connotes more than just the feeling of compassion; it has the power to heal another’s suffering through one’s love.
Gurumayi speaks about compassion in this way:
In true compassion, your thoughts become pure and your heart experiences its integrity, its dignity, its wholesomeness. You feel completely renewed. The boon, the blessing, of compassion is much greater than the pale imitations produced by pity. In compassion, the heart literally moves with love, and the one who inspires it receives love, and healing too.1
When we have compassion, we are experiencing the heightened state that results from connecting to the Heart, to the innermost Self. True compassion is not equivalent to pity. Pity implies a subtle calculation about one’s own self vis-à-vis the other person’s situation. There is a separation between the one who suffers and the one who pities.
Haven’t you noticed how, sometimes, when you tell someone how sorry you feel for them, it doesn’t actually appear to make them feel better? Sometimes it seems like it makes them feel worse. They may even push back against your offers to help. Then you wonder what’s going on. You think you are contributing so much, and there are no beneficial results. Why? Because they are experiencing the condescension of your pity, and not the empathy and protection that comes from true compassion.
Compassion is expansive. When we are connected to the Heart, our awareness of who we are expands to include the other person’s experience—indeed, to include the experience of all beings. Compassion is a doorway to divinity. Relating to another with tenderness, with a perspective of oneness, creates a connection to the Divine—both for the one who gives compassion and the one who receives it.
And here’s the paradox: inherent in compassion is tough love. Compassion is not about pampering the ego or enabling fantasies of the mind. It is about infusing another with confidence that they can fulfill their intentions and goals. Compassion is about redirecting self-pity to confidence. “You can do it!”
Jnaneshvar Maharaj, a thirteenth-century Maharashtrian saint who wrote an enlightened commentary on Shri Bhagavad Gita, describes how a compassionate person perceives those who are suffering:
He looks at them only after he has cleansed them with his own pure glance.2
Jnaneshvar is referring to the act of seeing the inner divinity in the person you perceive. For Jnaneshvar, compassion is not only the way you respond to those in distress but also the way you perceive them in the first place. Jnaneshvar presents a continuum from inner action to outer action, from perception to interaction, and this entire continuum provides an opportunity to exhibit compassion.
When you begin to understand the true nature of compassion and practice extending compassion from that state, you will experience compassion not only in your outward actions, but in your inner ones as well, in your thoughts and perceptions. You will experience your own Heart and recognize the compassion that is part of its true nature. You will be able to offer this sacred virtue to others and, in doing so, honor the divinity in all those you meet.
1Swami Chidvilasananda, My Lord Loves a Pure Heart: The Yoga of Divine Virtues (S. Fallsburg, NY: SYDA Foundation, 1994), p. 86. 2Jnaneshvari, 16.146; Swami Kripananda, Jnaneshwar’s Gita: A Rendering of the Jnaneshwari (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1999), p. 260.
Recently, I have been feeling a sense of pity toward the elderly people around me. Sometimes this feeling would be so strong that I found it difficult to even look at them. Yet, I knew that one day I too would reach that phase of life. I prayed to Bade Baba ji, asking how I could overcome this feeling residing within me.
Two days later, the virtue Compassion was posted on the Siddha Yoga path website, accompanied by a commentary. I read it and a new understanding began to develop in me: I should not feel pity toward the elderly; instead, I should see and honor their divinity, and love them like I love myself.
This gave me a wider, more compassionate perspective toward myself and how to see the world. I am grateful to Bade Baba ji for answering my prayer with this beautiful learning!
Rajsamand, India
I start my day with meditation. Today, as a way to enter into meditation, I was repeating the affirmation given in the commentary: “I embody compassion in my thoughts, words, and actions.”
Throughout the day the affirmation remained in my awareness. I was able to observe my thoughts, words, and actions, and as a result of this, I was able to experience the effects of practicing compassion.
Gujarat, India
While reading the commentary on compassion, I recalled a few recent incidents in which my interactions were imbued with compassion. I clearly remembered that in all those interactions, I had been connected with my heart, so that each action was guided by the incredible inner power and by grace.
I was especially drawn to this sentence in the commentary: “Jnaneshvar presents a continuum from inner action to outer action, from perception to interaction, and this entire continuum provides an opportunity to express compassion.” I realized that this description helped me understand more deeply the interactions I had recalled: it was because I had started with the connection to my heart that my acting with compassion had flowed naturally and easefully.
Thane, India
The profundity of the commentary on compassion touched the core of my being and awakened me to a new level of understanding.
As I studied the commentary, some questions arose: Am I compassionate to myself? Am I seeing my inner divinity? When I fall short of my own expectations, do I respond with understanding or do I belittle myself and fall into self-pity?
As I practice compassion for myself, the love and compassion I experience within naturally and spontaneously flow to others.
Hosur, India
Once, when visiting Shree Muktananda Ashram, I had the experience of the state of unity described in this commentary, when my heart opened to true compassion and true love, neither of which had an object or subject. Unfettered love and compassion simply flowed from that state of being free from any motive. Then I understood the difference between compassion and pity, which requires an object and subject. Then I was free from thoughts of “the other.” I simply was that state of being, not flowing from an ego-directed self but just being fully merged in divinity itself—whose nature is compassion and love.
Massachusetts, United States
When I read here that compassion “is about infusing another with confidence that they can fulfill their intentions and goals,” I felt my heart and mind open in a flash of new understanding.
The idea of confidence helped me, as a nurse for more than fifty years, to be with a friend in a new way. I would say to my friend, who was undergoing a tough time in illness and treatment: “Whatever comes, you can do this. And I will be beside you to support you.”
From this commentary I understood that through infusing confidence, I can put compassion into action. I am grateful for this gift.
New York, United States
Reading the commentary on the virtue of compassion, I realized that I don’t always feel compassionate toward myself and others, even when I sincerely want to.
So I wrote down the affirmation offered at the bottom of the commentary: “I embody compassion in my thoughts, words, and actions,” and I will continue to write it down each day. I feel it will strengthen this virtue inside me and help me extend my compassion to everyone I meet.
Willemstad, Curacao
I can feel the blessed, healing power of compassion emanating from this commentary. I feel peacefulness resonating through me, washing away the fatigue and stress related to my work as a physician in challenging times.
Perceiving my oneness with other embodiments of Consciousness, I see that compassion is indeed a doorway to divinity. I am so grateful to feel revived and empowered. I look forward to offering my heart’s compassion to honor the divinity in everyone I will meet today.
Colorado, United States
Recently, out of love, I brought up a difficult issue with a family member. But the next day I wondered whether I had truly acted from love, and began to doubt myself and feel uneasy. Then I read these words from this commentary: “And here’s the paradox: inherent in compassion is tough love.” My uneasiness dissolved, and I realized my actions were an expression of compassion.
Chennai, India
The commentary has led me to take note of some of the automatic ways I look at people from time to time. I see the way that judgment and impatience get in the way of the clear perception of their divinity and block the flow of compassion.
I feel inspired to approach this new awareness in a spirit of compassion for myself and others.
Kentucky, United States
This commentary on compassion brings to mind those times when I have felt compassion flowing inside. These were so much more than simply good and caring feelings toward others. They were truly sacred, heart-opening experiences—the felt answer to a prayer, when I had consciously asked for support and grace to expand my heart.
