Lesson 7 Part 1 COMMON COMPASSION
Popular Compassion is “An experience of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken with suffering or misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the pain or remove its cause.”
But we have said that in Buddha Dharma the natural human creature cannot have Personal Suffering as a consequence. The Common Compassion which is then developed upon the Dharma Path generates a happiness which is common, which is present when there is a clear confidence that others can be freed from suffering. This can only happen if there is a clear consciousness of the truth of the Dharma and a clear confidence in the fact that the true nature of the human creature is to be free from suffering (we say nothing here of a freedom from happiness).
It should be clear that the Popular Compassion experienced is a product of social and religious conditioning in which guilt plays a major part along with confessions and repentance. The difference within Buddha Dharma is related to the concept of virtue.
In the path of Buddha Dharma, Virtue is a state which we call COMPOSING and UPHOLDING. It provides a unification of the human processes and therefore serves as a foundation for profitable states. Clearly as a state of the human creature it would be an error to consider it as a human ideal generated by the mind. We say that VIRTUE is a natural state and has nothing whatsoever to do with rules, regulations or commandments.
True Virtue then in human creatures is either dormant, covered over by a blanket of ignorance, or it is revealed and experienced as part of the Life Force, as part of the wise nature which we call the Buddha Nature. This natural virtue then reveals itself in all attitudes that are correct, intentions that are correct and actions that are correct.
The beauty of the Buddha Dharma ideal is that a man or woman can perform a non-virtuous act without being a person without virtue. Do you see the subtle difference? Any condemnation then is of the attitude, intentions and actions, not the person. All that one need then to become a virtuous person is to take a sincere and honest pledge to be virtuous. It matters not that you fall out of the raft of virtue, for if your pledge is sincere you will always get back in. But the pledge must be motivated by a true understanding of the natural human state of virtue and not promoted by law, rule or commands.
In the Buddha Dharma precepts, one hears masters speaking of Buddha's commands, for example, “Do not kill.” That is an error, that is a hang-up of the religious eternalist positions where there is a power that controls the human creature and demands obedience.
Buddha declared, “REFRAIN FROM KILLING”. Do you see again the subtle difference, and the necessity to see carefully subtle differences? How does one refrain from anything? Not by going head to head against the Ignorance of Mara. No, one must apply restraint rather like one applies brakes in a car upon an icy road or like one may rein in a runaway horse. A firm but constant application of ever increasing energy, that is the way. To what end? Perhaps with the target of attaining VIRTUE? No. No. No. The idea is to permit the natural system to take the place of Identity, which must be dissolved. If one applies the idea that “I must achieve virtue," one falls in the trap of waking up the Identity with that “I.” When “I” is awakened there can be no progress. One must simply allow virtue to emerge.
Now when this virtue arises, it impregnates one's intentions, which in turn generates virtuous actions, which in turn re-aligns correct attitudes and displaces both the ignorance that blankets virtue and the social/religious virtue that in Buddha Dharma has no place. When we speak of morality, we do not generate ideas of social and religious beliefs. This morality, which is natural, actually generates a natural restraint of the senses (Indriya Samvara), mindfulness, an auto-regulation, and a state of general well-being.
From where did this blanket of ignorance come? It came from craving, supplemented by wrong view and justifications of Identity. Now, even if virtue is revealed, the identities will be present and so limits may be placed upon that virtue by Identity ideas of the necessity of personal gain, fame or influence. The ideal state, of course, is natural unlimited virtue.
Against these forces initially there are usually different motives in play:
Abandoning what is unbecoming to the self-image
To avoid censure by others
Positive regard for the Dharma (Natural law)
Only the third will lead to a removal of Mara’s blanket of Ignorance.
You can see then that VIRTUE is a natural human phenomenon that COMPOSES and UPHOLDS correct attitudes, intentions and actions, WITH REGARD TO OTHERS. We can imagine virtue best not just as a state, but as a force which generates that state.
The question is then, “Does VIRTUE generate COMPASSION?”
Surprisingly, the answer is no. Though it is true that the POPULAR VIRTUE learned and promulgated by Religions, State, Society, and Education does generate a COMPASSION which is false, TRUE and NATURAL VIRTUE does not generate NATURAL COMPASSION.
Let us examine the normal CORRECT path of actions, which starts, we must suppose, with CORRECT ATTITUDES which are stored in memory. From this base of Correct Attitudes, in response to a stimulus, which may arise spontaneously internally or be provoked by an external event, the mechanism of intention selection is put in motion. Eventually a final intention is generated and there is a prepration to convert that intention into an action or sublimate it for some valid reason.
TRUE COMPASSION arises as a result of CORRECT INTENTION.
NOTE THAT WE DO NOT SAY THAT CORRECT INTENTION ARISES FROM COMPASSION.
That is very important to understand.
For a better understanding we will explain the mechanism of this process that leads to compassion. Pay close attention.
The human system is a sophisticated bio-computer and as such is replete with feedback and correction systems. Our Buddha Nature, the storehouse of primordial memory, with a recent short-term storage area, is the base of a marvellous feedback system. Every time that an Attitude, an Intention, or a Potential Action is generated, then that information is fed to the Buddha Nature to see if it is consistent with natural human behaviour. How marvellous that is.
If the Attitude is found to be correct and does no harm to the mind or body of the system (or others) it is passed on to the Intention process. Likewise the Final Intention is evaluated and if it is consistent with what is naturally correct, the Intention is passed on for the preparation of Actions.
Now that Buddha Nature agreement induces in the system a state of Well-Being.
If there is no agreement, then the system simply sends a signal for a re-computation to take place.
You can see that in the natural system there is only Well-Being. There is no experience of Ill-Being. This too is important to understand.
Now NATURAL COMPASSION is related to CORRECT INTENTIONS. When the Well-Being associated with a Correct Intention is experienced, the system detects that it has arisen from a CORRECT DISCRIMINATION. VOLITION then notes this data and generates a special experience which is passed to consciousness as NATURAL COMPASSION.
NATURAL COMPASSION then is an experience generated as a consequence of the internal generation of CORRECT INTENTIONS.
In an adulterated system stained by Identity this does not occur. The Buddha Nature is relegated under Identity pressure for satiation. Correct discrimination is not valid or useful for Identity Satiation of Craving.
Therefore, the IDENTITY generates a motivating mental COMPASSION which evokes INTENTIONS which are calculated to lead to satiation of some Identity requirement.
The Identity might wish to appear virtuous or to feel virtuous, so it generates a false state of Compassion. This brings about an Intention which appears honourable, but is not.
The former is Common and noble Compassion, which is natural and correct.
The later is Popular Compassion, which is false.
Natural and correct Common Compassion does not reinforce further natural and correct compassion. Popular Compassion on the other hand does reinforce the habit strength of that false compassion, and within the system there is "an experience of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken with suffering or misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the pain or remove its cause." But that experience is generated by the predisposition for suffering which historically is ever-present with Identity. Thus the Compassion is ego-centric reflecting one’s own repugnance with the idea that “I too can suffer.”
The Common Compassion which is developed upon the Dharma Path generates a a clear historic confidence that others can be freed from suffering, because there is a clear consciousness of the truth of the Dharma and a clear confidence in the fact that the true nature of the human creature is to be free from suffering. Thus, Common Compasion, accompanied by the natural Well-Being is a positive state. There is no suffering, no empathy, no identification, no pity and no tears, just the natural impulse to change what can be changed, even if there is some sacrifice involved in the future action which may arise from the intention.