Show compassion towards all living beings, we often hear people say, but compassion is not something to be shown, it is something to be ignited. One is not born with compassion. What one is born with is love, humility, among other emotions. When a small child asks his mother, “Mama can I go out to play?” He shows humility, he is born with. When you ask your neighbours, ‘Have you eaten?’ ‘Can I get you something?’ ‘Are you comfortable?’ you are showing concern for them. When you politely offer your seat to a pregnant woman or an elderly person on the train – you are showing consideration and reverence for them. Feelings of concern, consideration and reverence all are aspects of humility. It is this, which in turn blossoms into true compassion.

Daya, mamta and namrata lead to karuna. These words have no proper equivalent in English. Although Karuna is often translated into English as compassion, it is more than that. Karuna comes from humility and concern and consideration for others. Only when you are humble towards others, understand them, appreciate them, are reverential towards them that you can be truly compassionate towards them.

Humility is like the basic emotion of love, anger. Instead of nurturing this emotion of humility, we kill it with our ego and pride. The surrounding environment too takes its toll. So when you suppress the basic feeling of humility since childhood, from where will karuna or compassion sprout? We can only develop things seeds of which are already within us.

Compassion is not something that needs to be shown to others, instead, it needs to be ignited in us. One can ignite compassion by being purely humble inside. Otherwise, one’s compassion is only a game of show of social service and it only boosts one’s ego – “I am full of compassion for others”, “I help others”, “I am such a great philanthropist. I always give to the poor and needy.” All such thoughts will arise only to strengthen the ego. Without true inner humility, one’s compassion is not true compassion. Compassion flows from a person who is truly humble — who has concern, consideration and reverence for all things around. Compassion will be ignited when this happens.

Meena ji’s comments after reading an article on Dalai Lama’s recent lectures in Dharmshala on Buddhist teachings of compassion.