The Worth of Help

If you look at how "compassion" is represented in different cultures around the world, you will see a benevolent mother, or an effeminate being that is looking at you benevolently, sometimes down, with open palms either in a certain hand positions (mudras) -  always ready to send those golden rays of kindness, love, and compassion. Yes, compassion is an act of love and kindness, and the Venerable Dalai Lama, a spiritual leader of Tibet is considered non-other, but the reincarnation of it, which can give one sense of how important is compassion in human history. I guess, too many times there wasn't enough of it, and people of the world have prayed, called out, out of the depth of their collective or personal miseries to the great benevolent being who can help, and many times who knows, she probably did.

However, where things get complicated is that if we look deeper upon a compassionate act performed by one human being towards the other, we generally see a very selfish motive - there is a personal interest involved in most cases. Even for a mother towards her children - it is her suffering and pain that is a result of children's mishaps. Charity can help the rich and influential to feel as though they are fulfilling their mission in tune with God's will, and alleviate a sense of sinfulness in those who carry guilt about having wealth. On the other hand, even a dollar given to a homeless person makes one feel good with a relief that the great Eye in a Sky has approved of their action, made it count.


Same people though, can be (and many times are) as brutal and harsh, and unforgiving as they are compassionate. This is  the other side of the same coin, just like the love and hate are. In other words kind, compassionate acts will not necessarily act as a protecting film from some of your other, less compassionate acts. To be truly and wholly compassionate, I have to argue, one also has to know the value of ruthlessness, i.e. being and acting from the center of their being without the thought of consequence for their action. Yes, to be truly compassionate one has to be a very rational being, see things "as they are" and then when all is well and clear, a compassionate act will have real power behind it because you are not thinking about it. It is not a rational act anymore.


Compassion doesn't have a face. It acts without asking. If there is a pain, compassion will move in to alleviate it. If there is suffering - compassion will move in to create a happy occasion. If there is a lack - compassion will be moved to create plentitude. And so on. But, if a compassionate act is performed out of a selfish motive - it stops being that and becomes a comfortable way to reassure oneself that they are capable, that all is well, that there is hope, etc. This is truly a human way, and there is no blame in it, since usually we are holding on to our various cultural traits, and tribal and social ways that don't teach us how to be truly compassionate. We all know that Lord Jesus was kind, and that his Mother was even kinder but somehow we expect that role to be fulfilled by the deites, as for ourselves, we are just too imperfect to ever consider a kind act that has a generosity and the swag of a deity. What could become such a gesture? Giving. Simple giving, but without thinking. Think it over before, in your spare time - then simply give. Even a small thing. Yes, there is light in that action. There is merit. There is personal satisfaction.
On the other hand, don't let anything sway you from that. If you have thought it over, and you feel like you are being pushed into giving, that this compromises what you really feel about the act - you have to be strong enough not to allow for that to take place. In other words you have to be in control of your resources, spiritual or otherwise and know what you feel and feel what you know about any such act.
This post is about bringing awareness to the acts of kindness, and I am sure that it will make a whole lot of difference to yourself and to the object of your next act. Let's practice that!