There is a lot of talk about compassion where I work as well as in some of the media I consume. Frequently the word compassion is paired with fatigue. Compassion-fatigue is such a hot topic there are departments and groups and initiatives and numerous other groupings with corporate sounding names being formed, set up, and initiated. Speakers are identified, topics are selected, strategies formulated, days designated, colors selected, slogans and code words promulgated, and the wheels of corporations begin the slow but effective process towards commercialization and and elimination of the problem not because it has been solved but because it doesn’t get solved and hence there was no problem to begin with. Next? Who’s next?
There is a real problem of burnout or rather “tired of doing and not being appreciated/compensated while doing more is demanded” syndrome. It is one thing and a nice thing that we care about how another person is getting along, what they are feeling, how they are coping with life. However, what about the causes for unhappiness, dissatisfaction, stress, burnout?
It isn’t that someone is defective, at least that isn’t the only thing. Also to be considered is the environment in which a person is experiencing.
When I read the sutra portion I copied today it reminded me that one of the best ways to enable a person to rejuvenate, to heal, to replenish and nature their compassion is to be compassionate and create a compassionate environment.
Regardless who the person is, what they have done or didn’t do, we are called upon to be compassionate. Judging is not our job nor our business. Judging is a practice of animality, one of the four realms in the lower worlds. Compassion is the realm of Buddhas.
The Ten Worlds theory is more than mere theory. It is in fact a road map showing us the way to various states of being. Where is the destination you aspire to arrive? If it is enlightenment you seek then be as the Buddha was and you shall arrive. Be as an animal and that is assuredly where you will find yourself and how you will experience your environment.
