ED, Compassion and empathy can be just the feeling, but can also include action to assist sufferers.
Sometimes I noticed Tibetan Buddhism stresses the former. Is it hypocricy? If you happen to read their literature, please make a note. Anthony --- On Sat, 26/2/11, ED <[email protected]> wrote: From: ED <[email protected]> Subject: [Zen] Re: Can A Buddha Harm Others? To: [email protected] Date: Saturday, 26 February, 2011, 10:07 PM Anthony, It appears that having 'compassion' or 'empathy' does not necessarily include actually making sacrifices to assist humans who are in pain and suffering. So, having 'compassion' and 'empathy' may give one a nice feeling that one cares, but may be of little value to the sufferers. Religions may recommend 'altruism', but it could be mainly toward fellow-believers, in which case it is more a consequence of (natural and normal) group bonding than of non-discriminating caring for all humans. --ED a deep awareness of and sympathy for another's suffering the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn Compassion is a human emotion prompted by the pain of others. More vigorous than empathy, the feeling commonly gives rise to an active desire to alleviate another's suffering. It is often, though not inevitably, the key component in what manifests in the social context as altruism. ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassion Altruism (pronounced: ) is selfless concern for the welfare of others. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures, and a core aspect of various religious traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Sikhism, and many others. ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altruism --- In [email protected], Anthony Wu <wuasg@...> wrote: > > Bill, > > I am pleased that you finally agree that compassion and empathy do exist. > > Anthony
