The history of the last two or three centuries in particular, does represent an era in which commercial activity has exploded, while universal compassion seems to have reduced in favour of a ‘me first’ approach. Superficially, this might seem to indicate that the two go inevitably hand in hand. However, just because two things happen at the same time, there is no reason to believe that either is a necessary requirement for the other.
In the case of our economy and social organization, the dog-eat-dog model creates individuals motivated by a disproportional emphasis on what suits them. In other words, generations of constantly dissatisfied consumers seeking to give their life meaning by buying more and more things. Does this result in a ‘booming’ economy? The answer is most definitely, yes. However, let us not forget that all growth is not the same. Drawing a parallel to our biology, cancer too is a ‘growth’! So what does a model based on constant and uncontrolled consumption represent? I think the answer is clear. It is a path that leads ultimately to ecological, psychological and, most importantly, even economic disaster.
We seem to have come to a point from which many often look at compassion as a favour to others. The reason why I advocate compassion as the very basis of our lives and collective existence is that I see the world from the completely opposite perspective. To my mind, compassion is an investment in ourselves. I believe, very strongly, that when we become so obsessively concerned with our own needs that the consequences to others cease to matter, we are creating a world in which we ourselves are more vulnerable and defenseless, as others will do unto us as we do unto them!
Compassion creates true prosperity
We have come to see the world as a series of choices between sets of two opposites. I believe this is a terrible way to understand our lives and the world. One of these false choices is between a ‘simple life’ and a ‘prosperous life’. Let me explain. To me, a prosperous life is essentially a life of abundance. When the things we need to live comfortably are available to us abundantly, we can reasonably claim that we are prosperous. However, if our only means to create such an easy availability of goods, services and conveniences is by relentlessly acquiring more and more wealth, we are creating an unstable system. Simple traditional sayings like “a dime saved is a dime earned” spread because they capture a basic honest truth. If we were to live with the approach that prosperity is about the easy availability of the necessities and luxuries, life starts to look very different. Having compassion in our hearts is the only way for us to share freely and feel like we have abundance in our own lives, so we limit the “greed” to amass wealth, goods and more.
While the scarcity mentality promotes competition and a zero-sum game, compassion makes us realize that true prosperity is about living in a world in which abundance is accessible to everyone of us. Minus compassion, life is but a rat-race to get the most for the self – an unstable and unsustainable model.
A compassionate world is a just and fair world
If the laws that govern our society and the means to enforce them suddenly disappeared, most of us would be in a state of panic and anxiety. The mechanism of legislation and the social contract we live under has its roots in compassion. While we might see power being exercised in the day to day dealing of the system of our law, its roots are in our desire to preserve everyone’s rights, rather than the powerful alone.
I don’t mean that the threat of anarchy should be our reason to be compassionate to others. Far from it! Such a concern would be selfish. What I’m trying to point out is that the very basis of our civilized society is the feeling ingrained deep inside us, that the world is only truly just when it is just for everyone. Essentially compassion and our ability to relate to others as beings like ourselves, is what has created our social structure and order. As our compassion erodes, so does our society. Compassion is the necessary basis for us to bring a fairer world into being.
Compassion as the basis of our humanity itself
What does becoming a fulfilled human being consist of? I believe this is a question that might produce as many answers as the number of people we ask. However, whether one is consciously aware of it or not, our compassion is at the heart of any contentment we are lucky enough to feel in our lifetime. Pleasure can most certainly be gained from a selfish approach, but peace of mind can only come from a concern that includes others.
And this is evident in how we have grown into more prosperous but also unhappier societies. In recent times, as our ability to do more, own more and have greater access has increased, so too has a large scale dissatisfaction with our modern lives. How can this be? Why, in the most empowered and enabled version ever of our world, are the most numbers of people seeking a deeper meaning than the toys and indulgences they have gathered? I believe this is fundamentally because our humanity is rooted in the desire for a greater, more collective and compassionate happiness. Somewhere in our collective sub-conscious mind, we feel disconnected from ourselves because our compassion has been dulled by an over-emphasis on pursuing selfish gain. The only way to retain a healthy psychology and a working connection to ourselves, is by nurturing and practicing our compassion.
Reclaiming compassion
I believe that the three things most central to living a good life – abundant prosperity, a fair social order and our basic psychological well-being – are all deeply dependent on and rooted in our compassion. The more we drift away from it, the less our lives fulfill us and the more centered in it we are, the greater our possibilities for contentment and joy. As I noted before, compassion is not a gift we give to the world, it is a means for us to give our own lives context and meaning. In a world where our every whim has a way to be fulfilled, we need to anchor our lives and our being in compassion, more than ever before.
