What is Compassion?

April 26, 2018April 27, 2018 Gary ReinerLeave a comment

Compassion

Caring for Yourself and Others

Compassion is the fundamental quality that allows us to stretch ourselves and to grow in our awareness, care, and love of ourselves and others.

Practicing compassion can lead to lasting happiness for oneself and others.

Cultivating Compassion

Compassion is cultivated through loving-kindness, in which one begins by imagining how they feel toward a loved one, then turning it toward themselves, then family and friends, then strangers, then enemies, and finally toward all beings.

The feeling of compassion is not something that can be generated quickly or halfheartedly. Compassion is not a one-time thing – striving for compassion is an all-consuming, full-time undertaking.

Compassion & Suffering

Though compassion is extolled, compassion in and of itself, is decidedly not a happy feeling – it is explicitly and unquestionably uncomfortable.

Inherent in compassion is the recognition of universal suffering. If you are genuinely able to have compassion toward all living/feeling beings without exception, then this means that you are also able to recognize the suffering of all beings all the time.

The intensity of compassion is like a trial by fire:

The extensive and vast mind possessed of compassion for all living beings, like love starting from the present mother and extending to the limits of space, must be cultivated to such a degree that it compares to that of a tearful person who sees or remembers that his or her only child has fallen into a pit of fire.

Gorampa Sonam Senge, Buddhist teacher, 15th-century

Motivation to Act

Imagine having this intense feeling all the time, about everyone. This is universal compassion – it is something that is uncomfortable, unsettling, and incredibly difficult to comprehend. But this is why genuine compassion is so important, and why it has the potential to be so powerful.

Operating from a place of discomfort is more likely to motivate us to act. By recognizing the suffering of others and having a sincere and urgent desire to alleviate that suffering, we can learn to act compassionately in the world.

We must try to really see and understand the suffering in the world, and to lean into our own discomfort in order to work toward alleviating the suffering of all.

For a more in-depth look, see The Discomfort of Compassion, by Constance Kassor.

How Can We Turn Off Autopilot?

April 20, 2018April 21, 2018 Gary Reiner1 Comment

Awareness

Pay Attention to What You’re Doing and Why

We always need to remember that we’re signing up for the life we’re leading. Where you can, sign up for what is truly meaningful.

Look to uncover the significance of any activity you participate in:

Remember that all around you is the majesty of nature and the mystery of humanity.
Be conscious that you have the power to control yourself in all areas of life.
Treat tough times as good opportunities to advance yourself.

Be in the Present Moment

As Marcus Aurelius says in the Meditations:

Everywhere and at all times, it is up to you to rejoice piously at what is occurring at the present moment, to conduct yourself with justice towards the people who are present here and now, and to apply rules of discernment to your present representations, so that nothing slips in that is not objective.

Laugh When Things Go ‘Wrong’ and When Things Go ‘Right’

Don’t be hurt or offended when people act poorly, or upset when things don’t go your way. Instead, chuckle at the discrepancy between our human ideas and how reality plays out. For that matter, chuckle when things do — miracle of miracles — go your way.

Laughter is a good way of transcending our dependencies.

The Deepest Human Life: An Introduction to Philosophy for Everyone
Scott Samuelson

Winner of the 2015 Hiett Prize in the Humanities

The book is currently being translated into Chinese and Portuguese.

Scott Samuelson

. Scott Samuelson website
. Why I Teach Plato to Plumbers (article in The Atlantic)

Scott Samuelson has a PhD in Philosophy from Emory University. He lives in Iowa City, Iowa, where he teaches philosophy at Kirkwood Community College (since 2000).

Samuelson is a volunteer teacher at Oakdale Prison, Iowa. He’s also a movie reviewer, television host, and sous chef at a French restaurant. He has two children.

Books Scott Samuelson has written:

How Philosophy Can Save Your Life – TEDx Talk – Scott Samuelson

How Do Myth and Ritual Infuse Religion With Meaning?

April 9, 2018April 10, 2018 Gary ReinerLeave a comment

Myth and Ritual Explained

The grounding (foundational) story of a religion is known as a “myth”. With the grounding story in place (for example, the cosmic Christ), rituals then reinforce and proclaim it.

The myth explains the ritual, and the ritual enacts the story: actions are performed, or calendar dates marked, because the gods did this, or because the savior figure first performed it.

By reenacting the events of a myth, rituals connect members of a group to the defining moments of the movement, and so give meaning to time. By looking at the myths and rituals of a particular group within their broader context, the group’s story and practice are both seen to draw from and set up worldviews that can either reinforce the prevailing culture or set up alternatives to it.

Common Ritual Practices

Public sacrifice was the most visible ritual performed in ancient times for what we today call both “religious” and social/civic purposes. Individuals also engaged in private rituals that both reflected their beliefs and sought to influence transcendent powers.

Ritualized dietary behaviors are common in religions cross-culturally. The same is true of calendars that divide time into sacred and profane.

For many, the performance of ritual provides a means of making the profane sacred, of connecting to the divine, of securing blessings, transformation and protection, and of reinforcing group membership. A ritualized performance can, of course, turn from a meaningful action into an obsession or a rote behavior.

The New Testament: Methods and Meanings
Warren Carter and Amy-Jill Levine
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Warren Carter

Warren Carter is professor of New Testament at Brite Divinity School, Fort Worth, Texas. Carter specializes in the Gospel of Matthew, as well as the Greek New Testament in general.

Carter has a Ph.D. (New Testament), from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a B.D., Th.M., from Melbourne College of Divinity, Australia. He was born was in New Zealand.

Carter is an ordained United Methodist Elder.

Books written by Warren Carter include:

Amy-Jill Levine
born 1956

Amy-Jill Levine is E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, Department of Religious Studies, and Graduate Department of Religion.

Levine is a self-described “Yankee Jewish feminist who teaches in a predominantly Protestant divinity school in the buckle of the Bible Belt.” She also “combines historical-critical rigor, literary-critical sensitivity, and a frequent dash of humor with a commitment to eliminating antisemitic, sexist, and homophobic theologies.”

Levine is a member of an Orthodox Jewish synagogue.

Books written by Amy-Jill Levine include: