EDITORIAL
Vol 18 No 1 - March 2002
As I write this, two Buddhist monks are constructing a sand mandala in a large room in the centre of the city. In an atmosphere of calm, surrounded by flowers, prayer flags and the sound of Tibetan chants they will work for days, little by little laying down an intricate and beautifully coloured structure - a holy object to many - in order to create positive energy and to generate love and compassion.
The slow and steady progress of the monks, working hour after hour on this creation, is striking in this world of rush, hurry and tension. The effect of the work on those who visit is evident. Quietness, whispered conversations and slow deliberate steps are everywhere. It is as if we have each been called to our centre, and to reverence and respect for the artists. The knowledge that the mandala will be dissolved once it is completed and its purpose is fulfilled is also a startling reminder of the Western desire for attachment and permanence, the very opposite of Buddhist understandings of impermanence and non-attachment. It would be hard to leave the scene without having picked up some of the calm, quiet, contemplative mood that is present there. I certainly felt as if the mandala was working to stimulate the gentle, pleasant, kind sides of human nature.
Compassion is at the heart of Buddhist teaching. It is often explained as appreciation of the suffering of others, but it also includes recognition of our own pain, along with the desire to overcome suffering wherever it occurs. Interestingly compassion is a word I have heard in a variety of different healthcare contexts in the past few months. It has been suggested as the way for those who work in health care to approach the almost overwhelming need for change in our health care systems. It could, perhaps should, drive our relationships with clients and with colleagues. In addition, as a way of approaching ourselves, compassion might help defeat the self criticism and cynicism to which seemingly unbeatable challenges can lead.
The word ‘compassion’ is not a fashionable one. Fox (1979, p.1) opens his book with the statement ‘Compassion has been exiled in the West’. Comte- Sponville (1996, p. 103) says bluntly ‘Compassion gets bad press’. But in their books, both authors explore the notion, and come down on the side of compassion as a useful, productive virtue. Comte-Sponville categorises compassion as ‘concrete, silent, and specific’ as opposed to pity, which is ‘abstract, loquacious, and generalising’ (p. 114). He suggests thatcompassion
is both a feeling and a virtue. As such, he says, compassion ‘allows us to pass.... from the emotional realm to the ethical realm, from what we feel to what we want, from what we are to what we must do’ (p. 116). Further, as a feeling compassion rests on respect: it is ‘a horizontal feeling’ (Comte Sponville,1996, p. 115). We can have compassion both for someone we admire and for someone of whom we disapprove. In his analysis Fox (1979) also stresses the action component of compassion. He says ‘Compassion leads to works’ (p.8), these he sees as entailing political activities and justice-making.
In constructing the mandala, the monks demonstrate how small actions lead to significant results. A similar idea is to be found in Malcolm Gladwell’s book ‘The Tipping Point’ (2000). Using the metaphor of an epidemic, and several real life examples, Gladwell shows how little things can make a big difference, causing dramatic and sudden change in ideas, trends or social behaviours. Imagine an epidemic of compassion. People would listen carefully to each other and try to look at the world from the other's point of view.
Instead of being caught up in hurry and stress, they would centre themselves and pay full attention to their actions in the immediate moment. Actions would be based on principles of humility, generosity, tolerance, gentleness and courage. If compassion were to catch on as a manner of comportment among health professionals, as the basis for our relationships with clients and their families, and with colleagues, then the health care systems in which we struggle today could also be dramatically transformed. In place of anger, Compassion is a contagious emotion. No-one is immune. Touch yourself and someone else with it today.
Jo Ann Walton
Professor of Nursing
Auckland University of Technology
References
Gladwell, M. (2000). The tipping point. How little things can make a big
difference. London: Little, Brown and Company.
Comte-Sponville, A. (1996). A small treatise on the great virtues. New York: Metropolitan Books.
Fox, M. (1979). A spirituality named compassion and the healing of the global village, Humpty Dumpty and us. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
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