Compassion has been said to be love in action; love is still harder to define, so will wait for now. Is compassion random acts of kindness? Or loving kindness?
Who has pinned it down? The meaning comes mainly in context, it seems. "Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it" - a good dictionary definition. When I examined the word this morning during the peculiar mind space that often happens around 5 am, I saw that compassion should start with unconditional acceptance of the self. Only then can the compassion be radiated outwards toward others. Then the awareness of another's suffering can deepen, and acts of kindness can be from love, not ego. Compassion appears to be a result, or by-product of the infinite present moment, closer to the root or source, arising perhaps directly from the great heart - the great heart of compassion as it is so aptly named in Buddha's teaching, in the Lankavatra Sutra.
Grace is used in the context of a divine presence. When we allow the divine, or God in, we experience its grace. Another www.thefreedictionary.com definition: "Seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement, form, or proportion." My contemplation points to grace as a collaboration of one's experiences with everything in the universe, like a multitude of synchronicities, and just as wordless. It seems that an open heart is required for grace to manifest or unfold.
The beauty of compassion and grace is that everyone has received them, because they are endlessly abundant. Yet sadly, only a few are ready or accepting without conditions. It might be said that the ego, the person's sense of self as separate, gets in the way of what is always available.
Next time: exploring conceptualizations about love and ego.
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