Compassion and empathy

[B222]

How do you expand compassion and empathy? Cheers

[Thought Art]

@B222 Contemplate it, use prompts generated from AI. Meet people, volunteer, read poetry and spiritual books, study human suffering, connect spiritually to concepts of compassion, love, forgiveness through spiritual experiences. 

[Candle]

My insights : 

• Sometimes pain makes us more empathetic and compassionate. Either use pain to be more rough or use it to be more soft, polite and caring towards others. 
• Mutual suffering creates stronger bonds of love. 
• There is a thing called "compassion fatigue". Compassion fatigue is basically emotional and physical exhaustion that comes from caring for others, especially in situations where there's a lot of pain, suffering, or stress involved. It’s common among healthcare workers, therapists, caregivers, and even people who are always there for friends or family in tough times.
• Imagine showing love to others and feeling deep fulfilment. 

 

[gettoefl]

They are opposites.

Empathy is I feel your pain and therefore I make your pain real. Your pain isn't real and thus you have been harmed by me.

Compassion is I carry your apparent pain on your behalf. I take it away from you and thus you have been helped by me.

Former keeps you stuck.

Latter gets you beyond.

Empathy is saying, I acknowledge what you are going through my friend. = pretty much worthless

Compassion is saying, my friend there is another way. = pretty much priceless

Edited December 23, 2024 by gettoefl

[mud]

For me, expanding empathy and compassion has come with being consistently surrounded by (typically working with) those who I'm close friends with/grow to be close friends long enough for conflicts to arise. I don't think it matters exactly what the conflict is, but the theme would be that I am doing or have done something that has upset the other person to a degree that I don't immediately understand. 

For example I ate my best friend's box of chicken he was saving for himself in the fridge, at that time I must have thought it was dibs for anyone or that he wouldn't mind me having some (I don't exactly remember) but I remember how upset he was when he found me eating it. I stopped eating, I was responding face value to his emotions calmly (and admittedly with some egoic self defense), understood why he would be upset at face value but I wasn't truly sorry. 

I can't say I have it fully in the bag but a few key uncomfortable and heated situations like this have helped me realize that it's important to be aware of outcomes before going along with one's desires, ESPECIALLY when working with others and sharing spaces, and to be patient and understanding with others' emotions (intuitively, of course) in inevitable hiccups.