Of all the possible character attributes one can come by in their search for spiritual advancement, the one attribute that can teach you the most and open up your heart to your fellow human beings - and animals, is the attribute of empathy. Empathy, in our usage of the word, is the ability to feel and understand another's pain as if it were your own pain. Even more, scientists have shown that if we develop our ability to feel empathetic towards other beings in their pain and anxiety that that is the natural state we are born into, as we actually are hard-wired in two places in our brain to literally feel other's pain as pain we have experienced our own selves. One area affects the emotional response to other's pain and the other area the logical concept of pain that involves another's feelings and the actual pain they bear.
Those two areas of our brain help us so that we can understand logically the ramifications of another's pain and sorrow and be able to find words, or actions that might soothe or help the situation they are in. And second, we feel the actual pain of the other sufferer as if we had lived the same situation ourselves, and we respond emotionally to their feelings. Thus we actually feel the pain that we observe in others and can more readily reach out to them with help and understanding.
The same scientists have found that people who are sociopathic - cannot and do not feel pain for other persons or animals - do not have functioning brains in those two areas (the amygdala, thalamus, and in cortical regions of the brain) and cannot feel pain that is not happening to them directly. Those folks do not come to the aid of other persons in trouble or pain because they cannot feel the trouble or pain unless it happens to them.
Small children, for the most part, have a very strong instinctual feeling to reach out and assist those who are experiencing pain. Most mothers have had the experience of a small baby reaching up to wipe away her tears, and having their small child come to them with a pretty picture, a loving sentence scribbled on a piece of paper, or a tender kiss and the words, "don't cry mama (or papa), I love you." As time passes and we grow up to adulthood we have done one of two things, 1) allowed our heart to remain tender and develop this basic skill of reaching out to comfort others in their pain, and allowing ourselves to actually feel other's pain without blocking it out, or 2) hardening of our hearts when we recognize another's pain and trouble and closing their plight from our conscious memory. A lot of people think it is only wisdom to block other's pain thinking they have enough pain of their own and don't have the time, money, or patience to give from their hearts to others. They feel that it is only logical and self-protective, and I suppose on some level they are absolutely right. But for those of us, who are seeking to live on a higher emotional, psychological, physical, or spiritual plain, we rejoice that we have the hard-wired capacity to understand and empathize with other's pain, because it gives us the opportunity to reach out and help other people, our families, our friends, those we love...total strangers, in a way that is natural and truly responsive to their needs.
Most of man's spiritual teachers, including Jesus and the Buddha and many others, have as their most important teaching that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. To do this, we are given the physical gift and emotional gift of empathy. If we do this as we have been directed, and that is hard-wired into our beings, then we climb swiftly the levels of spiritual advancement and quite frankly come to know great joy and peace of mind. We also receive another gift in that we are then able to understand and experience many more things in our lives than those who shut themselves off from experiencing anything more than they absolutely have to.
This may sound funny to some, but Facebook gives us many opportunities to have empathy for other people and causes that we might not have been aware of before. We can express our empathy for people, give them our help, understanding, and support and it really helps yourself and the person you are having compassion for. Facebook has kept me out of depression many times over the 2 years I have been connected and it is because of the kindness and loving understanding of friends, family, and others that I do not even know very well, but have come to care about.
Lastly, to promote empathy is the greatest form and recipe for good luck, which is expressed as:
L ove
U nderstanding
C ompassion
K indness
Have a great evening and I will talk with you again tomorrow morning. Love and best wishes!
Those two areas of our brain help us so that we can understand logically the ramifications of another's pain and sorrow and be able to find words, or actions that might soothe or help the situation they are in. And second, we feel the actual pain of the other sufferer as if we had lived the same situation ourselves, and we respond emotionally to their feelings. Thus we actually feel the pain that we observe in others and can more readily reach out to them with help and understanding.
The same scientists have found that people who are sociopathic - cannot and do not feel pain for other persons or animals - do not have functioning brains in those two areas (the amygdala, thalamus, and in cortical regions of the brain) and cannot feel pain that is not happening to them directly. Those folks do not come to the aid of other persons in trouble or pain because they cannot feel the trouble or pain unless it happens to them.
Small children, for the most part, have a very strong instinctual feeling to reach out and assist those who are experiencing pain. Most mothers have had the experience of a small baby reaching up to wipe away her tears, and having their small child come to them with a pretty picture, a loving sentence scribbled on a piece of paper, or a tender kiss and the words, "don't cry mama (or papa), I love you." As time passes and we grow up to adulthood we have done one of two things, 1) allowed our heart to remain tender and develop this basic skill of reaching out to comfort others in their pain, and allowing ourselves to actually feel other's pain without blocking it out, or 2) hardening of our hearts when we recognize another's pain and trouble and closing their plight from our conscious memory. A lot of people think it is only wisdom to block other's pain thinking they have enough pain of their own and don't have the time, money, or patience to give from their hearts to others. They feel that it is only logical and self-protective, and I suppose on some level they are absolutely right. But for those of us, who are seeking to live on a higher emotional, psychological, physical, or spiritual plain, we rejoice that we have the hard-wired capacity to understand and empathize with other's pain, because it gives us the opportunity to reach out and help other people, our families, our friends, those we love...total strangers, in a way that is natural and truly responsive to their needs.
Most of man's spiritual teachers, including Jesus and the Buddha and many others, have as their most important teaching that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. To do this, we are given the physical gift and emotional gift of empathy. If we do this as we have been directed, and that is hard-wired into our beings, then we climb swiftly the levels of spiritual advancement and quite frankly come to know great joy and peace of mind. We also receive another gift in that we are then able to understand and experience many more things in our lives than those who shut themselves off from experiencing anything more than they absolutely have to.
This may sound funny to some, but Facebook gives us many opportunities to have empathy for other people and causes that we might not have been aware of before. We can express our empathy for people, give them our help, understanding, and support and it really helps yourself and the person you are having compassion for. Facebook has kept me out of depression many times over the 2 years I have been connected and it is because of the kindness and loving understanding of friends, family, and others that I do not even know very well, but have come to care about.
Lastly, to promote empathy is the greatest form and recipe for good luck, which is expressed as:
L ove
U nderstanding
C ompassion
K indness
Have a great evening and I will talk with you again tomorrow morning. Love and best wishes!
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