Prof Sheetal
The word ‘compassion’ stands for empathy, warm-heartedness and fellow-feeling towards others. In the eastern philosophy, the virtue of compassion had been put forth by Mahatma Gautam Buddha who stated that, ‘to alleviate sufferings and misery, one must feel compassionate for others as we are formally and informally connected to one another, so we should remove the ignorance regarding our existence as separate entities.
Genuine compassion rests upon the empowerment and encouragement of others in dealing with the sufferings and adversities of life rather than having a sympathetic attitude that make them more weaker and less self-reliant.
When self is prefixed before compassion, the meaning of the word gets an inward direction towards oneself and the attribute of “self-compassion” denotes not to be occupied with one’s sufferings and to feel light hearted despite the hardships faced and to relieve the sufferings with a kind-hearted attitude towards oneself. Self- compassion emphasis on the inculcation of non- judgemental and lenient attitude towards one’s incompetency and failures. It helps us to broaden the horizon regarding experience of pain and suffering as a common human phenomenon. From the evolutionary point of view, self-compassion helps in the release of oxytocin hormone which is related with caregiving or warm feeling and regulates physiological reactions such as decreased heart rate and calmness
Self- compassion necessitate three overlapping but distinct components which are self- kindness versus over-judgment (a kind and nurtured attitude toward oneself rather than rigid and harsh judgment), common humanity versus isolation (to have a common outlook towards one’s personal inadequacy and suffering and the others) and lastly mindfulness versus over-identification (to recognize one’s challenges and hardships in a balanced way rather than having a ruminating kind of responses. Self compassion is applicable in both the circumstances whether it is because of personal inadequacy or failure as well as the external mis-happenings or trouble.
Self- Compassion is different from Self- Pity which makes an individual ego-centric, isolated and victimized and hampers his/her overall development and exacerbates personal distress. On the other hand, Compassion regarding one’s own self builds an interconnection with others and a universal feeling of oneness that enables an individual to think that nothing in this world is permanent and happiness and sufferings will come and go in everyone’s life. We should embrace the virtue of soft-heartedness to maintain inner peace and contentment so that one should remain future-focused rather than ruminating upon past events and condemning one’s own self.
(The author is a faculty at GDC, Billawar, Kathua)
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