Why Compassion Is So Transformative

Joan Halifax, the director of Project on Being With Dying, has said, “Compassion is comprised of that capacity to see with clearly into the nature of suffering. It is that ability to really stand strong and to recognize also that we are not separate from suffering. We then go on to aspirations of transforming suffering.” Compassion is being present with the pain and suffering of ourselves and of others and responding with a desire to alleviate this pain.

Compassion is important to meeting our needs of authentic living and identity, supporting the community in which we live, and engaging in the sustainability of kindness. Lee Tremaine promotes the following 9 benefits of compassion:

  1. Reduces Suffering
  2. Opens our Hearts
  3. Enlarges our Perspective and Identity
  4. Increases our Happiness
  5. Allows us to Become Better Connected
  6. Improves our Health
  7. Allows us to Understand Ourselves and Others
  8. Increases the Possibility of Peace
  9. Allows the Extension of Compassion to Spread

When we tune into finding grace, love, kindness, and compassion toward ourselves and others it can be like navigating uncharted waters. We may start to believe that showing compassion ends up draining us of our resources when in fact it actually enlivens us! Practice compassion every day in every place possible and learn what Buddhists have been saying for many years, “It often takes a soft front to build a strong back.”

Written by Emily Carlson, MA

Check out Joan Halifax’s TED Talk on Compassion here.

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