Cultivating Compassion

Compassion is getting its 15 minutes of fame these days.

Everywhere, in discussions concerning the most pressing issues of our time — the pandemic, calls for racial justice, the election — people are elevating the need for compassion. Leaders are being judged based on their perceived skills, or lack thereof, in compassion.

This is good news. Compassion deserves this level of attention. It is the glue the binds us. It is the skill that is necessary to bridge divides, to heal wounds, and to create a society that has more justice and less suffering.

But 15 minutes of fame is not enough. How do we translate this momentary attention to sustained compassion in our society? Is there something we can do as individuals to become more compassionate?

Thankfully, the answer is yes. Breakthroughs in neuroscience have confirmed what many wisdom traditions have known for centuries — we can train ourselves to be more compassionate.

Perhaps it is easiest to understand this by looking at the life of one of our nation’s compassion icons — Congressman John Lewis.

John Lewis was a civil rights hero and political leader, but perhaps of equal importance, as was made clear by those who knew him well during their eulogies at his homegoing celebration, he was a living testament to the power of compassion, kindness, and non-violent direct action.

John Lewis was probably born with these qualities in abundance, but he also dedicated his life to nurturing and refining these qualities. Along with Dianne Nash and other students in Nashville, John Lewis trained with Rev. Jim Lawson in the philosophy and application of non-violent direct action. Nonviolence was a central animating principle of his life and he became a manifestation of it. John Lewis was what non-violence looked like walking down the street, in the halls of power, and working for social change. Compassion, love, and kindness were core elements of his nonviolent approach.

My journey to believing in the primacy of compassion started as a young kid with my own suffering.

I struggled to read throughout elementary school. I was very late to read and then never able to do so with ease. I was embarrassed and ashamed. Decisions were being made about my intelligence and aptitude that would have forever changed the trajectory of my life if unquestioned.

And then compassion stepped in.

A few teachers, a school reading volunteer, and my mom heard my silent suffering and were motivated to help alleviate it. That is the simple, and yet profound, formula for compassion: recognizing the suffering in others and then taking action.

The compassionate actions of others during my elementary school years became a ‘but for’ moment in my life. And started me on a quest to understand compassion and how I could become more compassionate myself.

I woke up to the beauty of compassion as a recipient, and have learned through the years the joys and benefits one gets by trying to be just a little bit more compassionate myself.

Like the philosophy and application of non-violence, compassion too can be studied and cultivated. We have the power to make the world a more compassionate place by working to become more compassionate ourselves.

There are a plethora of techniques and practices, both ancient and modern, that can help cultivate our innate compassion. The key is not any specific one, but finding a practice that helps us put compassion front and center in our lives. Through intentional cultivation of our innate compassion, each of us can help ensure we aren’t just witnessing its 15 minutes of fame.