PERENNIAL 89
The Answer to Every Question
Reflections on Compassion
Is there an answer to every question (or situation) we encounter in life? On a recent episode of the Ten Percent Happier podcast, writer and Jesuit priest Greg Boyle (author of The Whole Language) suggested compassion is the answer to every question. Father Greg is the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, CA (now in its 31st year). He spends his days at Homeboy Industries accompanying ex-gang members as they rebuild their lives.
Before we get started, take a few moments to contemplate these questions:
- How would you define compassion in daily life?
- Where do you place compassion within your principles or values?
- How would you rate your level of compassion?
We soon discover a common theme of compassion as a central component if we explore various wisdom traditions. The idea of wisdom and the practice of compassion seem to be inextricably linked.
For example, Albert Einstein wrote,
A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures…
Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, enter the places of pain, and share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish wrote the writer and theologian Henri Nouwen. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. “Compassion means complete immersion in the condition of being human.”
My interview with Massimo Pigliucci (author of A Field Guide to a Happy Life) discussed anger and forgiveness. Pigliucci told a story about when the Dalai Lama was asked: “If someone could go back in time and kill Adolf Hitler — should they? The Dalai Lama said, “Yes, but don’t be angry.” In other words, have compassion. It is probably an understatement to say it’s challenging to think about compassion as the answer to every question.
How does one cultivate compassion?
We are wise to start with our views and beliefs. Figures like Socrates, Jesus, and others stressed that no one knowingly does evil (it is simply a lack of wisdom). In Meditations, Marcus Aurelius put it this way,
As Plato said, every soul is deprived of truth against its will. The same holds true for justice, self-control, goodwill to others, and every similar virtue. It’s essential to constantly keep this in your mind, for it will make you more gentle to all.
Every moment is an opportunity, an opportunity to choose. The psychologist and holocaust survivor Victor Frankl famously said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”
How would an attitude of compassion change how you see yourself, others, and the world around you?
Thank you for reading; I hope you found something useful.
If you’re interested in learning more, check out Perennial Meditations on Substack or one of our podcasts.
