Artie, Certainly those who committed crime because of their own unfortunate experiences deserve compassion. They are 'acquired sociopaths'. But are there 'born sociopath?' For those who don't believe in karma and rebirth, the answer is an absolute negative. Pol Pot, for instance, thought people who were brought up by bourgeois education could not be rectified and must be tortured and killed, as they had no role to play in the 'new society' he was trying to create. So you see children of 12-3 years of age, who were being educated by Pol Pot regime, knock the brain out of their parents' head. Everything is acquired. Nothing comes by birth. Anthony
--- On Thu, 15/7/10, roloro1557 <roloro1...@yahoo.com> wrote: From: roloro1557 <roloro1...@yahoo.com> Subject: [Zen] Compassion To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com Date: Thursday, 15 July, 2010, 4:58 PM I am acquainted with a man who once thought he wanted to be a psychiatrist. He got as far as doing his residency, which was working with men in prison. He told me something that I have never forgotten. He said; "When you work with these men and you hear their stories, you may not agree with what they did, but you can certainly understand why they did what they did. You don't think they should be let out of prison. But you can't help feeling compassion for them." Artie
