Compassion is Bodhicitta
Sep 20th, 2008 by admin
From Joseph Goldstein’s One Dharma, The Emerging Western Buddhism, “… bodhicitta (the term used in the Tibetan tradition) is the practice of compassion and compassionate action. Compassion is the strong and deep feeling that wants to alleviate the suffering of beings, and it arises when we allow ourselves to come close to suffering, both our own and that of others. This is a profound and difficult practice. We may want to become compassionate, and even feel that we often are, but it is not always easy to do. Just as we don’t like to be with our own pain, we don’t necessarily want to be with the pain of others. Strong tendencies of the mind often keep us defensive or indifferent or apathetic in the face of suffering” (p. 122).