Compassion represents the fundamental Buddhist practice of recognizing suffering in all sentient beings and cultivating the genuine wish for their liberation from that suffering. Unlike mere sympathy or emotional resonance, compassion (karuṇā in Sanskrit) emerges from the deep understanding that suffering is universal and interconnected, arising from our shared vulnerability to impermanence and the illusory nature of separation.
At its core, compassion in Buddhist philosophy operates as both a natural outcome of Prajñā Wisdom and a deliberate cultivation through practices like lovingkindness meditation and tonglen. The tradition distinguishes between relative compassion - our immediate response to visible suffering - and absolute compassion, which recognizes that even harmful actions arise from ignorance and confusion rather than inherent evil. This understanding transforms compassion from a selective emotion into an unconditional orientation toward all beings, including oneself through Self-compassion