2023-08-04-Compassionate Action (5 of 5) For its Own Sake

8:56PM Aug 4, 2023

Speakers:

Gil Fronsdal

Keywords:

compassionate action

compassion

self preoccupation

concerns

compassionate

weeks

activity

freedom

developed

thoughts

healthy

dishes

hoosick

care

bandaid

drag

wind

focused

capacity

involved

So this talk will be the fifth and final of the talk on compassionate action. And the kind of the focus of the talk is compassionate action for its own sake. Compassion, net action is often considered to be focused on the welfare of others. Sometimes there's self compassion. And sometimes there's caring for oneself as one has compassionate care for others. It's possible to have compassionate action care for both self and others, and have a open hearted open vision of how to be in this world that we wish that everyone benefit to everyone, be free, not just the parties involved or something. And there's a fifth kind of way of compassionate action, that for some Buddhist traditions is considered to be the highest pinnacle of compassion. And that is where they were so involved, so engaged in the compassionate action, that there's a self forgetting, and not sacrificing our own well being. But because we know how to care in a healthy way for the world and ourselves, it's, it's appropriate, it's a beautiful thing to then do in that healthy way of being to give ourselves over to it completely. So that it's the idea of self being the agent of the activity kind of falls away. In some Buddhist traditions, they talk about the oneness of the compassionate person, the recipient of compassion, and the act itself of compassion, that there's a cycle, there's kind of a unit of kind of, it's inseparable, or has no division, or somehow, we are immersed in it so that we don't have so much the thoughts of, it's me being compassionate, we're helping another person. And even the idea that this is a compassionate action can fall away. Once we once we have decided that this is the right thing to do, we give ourselves over to it fully. And there's a simplicity and a freedom in the action then. And this is true for anything we do. We for you wash dishes in the sink. And certainly it can can be a lot of self preoccupation, like I don't like doing the dishes, I wish I didn't have to do it, I'm always doing it, it's not fair. Or, you know, I have important things to do, let's get this over quickly, because I have to get to do something that I really want to do. So there's a lot of self concerns of different types there. It might be concerns about being the best dishwasher in the neighborhood, and trying to prove yourself that everyone knows that you're a good dishwasher. There's also just washing dishes for the sake of washing dishes. And there's a kind of giving oneself over fully to the dishwashing, that there is no resistance, there's a full participation. And there's no judgment and no self concern in washing the dishes. Maybe no one's in the house with you. So you know, he's not trying to prove anything to anyone. And so this kind of giving yourself over to an activity is a healthy activity is one of the qualities of freedom or happiness or delight. That as I said before, is akin to you know, game being absorbed and reading a good book or absorbed involves doing a hobby, doing art, playing music, and involved in a sports perhaps or all kinds of things that were really kind of almost forget ourselves in the activity. And there might still be a lot of attention and monitoring of what's happening here and adjusting ourselves, but it's not kind of through the ordinary filter of me and myself and mine and self concern self preoccupation. And what's in it for me. So this is one, one way of, if we're talking about compassionate action, it's, it's, it's one of the beautiful ways to practice compassionate action is to have learned how to give yourself to something fully, to participate fully. So certain kind of wind drag of self self concern is not there. There's a kind of refreshment refreshing way and refreshing, refreshing that comes from dropping the self concerns. This is a lot of stress that many people have around me myself in mind, and what's in it for me? And what's going to happen to me? And what do people think? And will people still like me? And and am I doing it right? Am I doing it wrong, and, you know, do I need to apologize, I'm sorry. Hold that as wind drag, all that is kind of interfering with kind of in a simple can be simple, relaxed way doesn't have to be vigorous or forceful, but in a simple, relaxed way to give ourselves over to the activity at hand. And in this case, the topic for this week is compassionate action. And this is maybe often not associated with compassionate action, because the emphasis is on helping someone who's suffering, the act, the emphasis of doing something, but But you know, and there can even come a sense of obligation and responsibility, it's up to me, I have to do it, I'm the one who's going to help and. And all that is wind drag, all that adds stress. And if you've decided this is healthy the way and this is why all the things we've been teaching, I've been teaching over these last weeks about compassion, all the different component parts of it all the things that can come together to inform compassion, a well developed capacity for awareness, a well developed capacity for attunement to others and to oneself to the situation, a well developed cast capacity for appreciation and respect for others. A well developed capacity for considering what we aspire, what's the wish we want, that goes along with compassion, what's the healthy aspiration, in all those things, then come together and in the action that we do. And then we also consider what's there right action, which kind of is the principles I offered earlier in the week. But when all these come together, in maybe kind of over time, they develop a second nature, and they don't have a lot of consideration thoughts about it. But then we hit some point we give ourselves over to the activity at hand, driving someone to the emergency, and we just there for that activity, bringing someone dinner, cooking someone dinner Hoosick spending time with someone who is somehow in crisis and going for a walk with them or sitting with them and listening to them. putting a BandAid on a small child's knee who scraped it, there's all kinds of ways in which we can be compassionate, the action, but at some point, to give over or to do it fully a wholeheartedness of full participation. So that self preoccupation falls away. And the advantage of that for compassionate action is I believe, that then compassionate action can be clean, can be unclouded it can be agitated by things which are not compassion. More often than not self concerned, self preoccupation is not, you know, as a as a hindrance for the purposes of compassion. And also, then, that compassionate action becomes a vehicle for our own freedom, or freedom from self. We learn so much about letting go when we give ourselves over wholeheartedly to participate in healthy activities. So so it's kind of the, you know, the culmination of this week of talking about compassionate action is to come to a point where compassionate action is done for its own sake. Of course, proceeding it is the idea we're doing it for the sake of others or for ourselves, all those other things. But at some point, we just kind of as we're doing it, we can just let go of all those thoughts and concerns and just give ourselves over to the simplicity of the act that we're doing. And in doing so, we benefit ourselves in a fantastic way, we benefit ourselves by getting a taste of freedom, freedom of speech, freedom from self. And, and then I think the joy or the happiness that can come with compassion, as a child has the most chance to flower and develop.

And that's one of the great things about compassion is the way that it can be a source of happiness, a source of joy, a source of well being source of being on the path to freedom. So so that's

my thoughts about compassionate action for this week. And so I've been now depends how we count but the last six, seven, maybe eight weeks that I've been doing these, these YouTube teachings, it's all been kind of focused around compassion, and I'm hoping that it's, it's enriched you and understanding it's different aspects, different streams of of attention that we are, or reflection about compassion that we can bring to it to really enrich this world. So that we don't think of compassion as a in simplistic ways that we just jump to act of compassion way without giving any thought to the multifaceted and valuable kind of richness that the compassionate world is part of. And, and so it's possible. This is the last week on this topic. I'll be gone for two weeks, and we have wonderful guests coming for the next two weeks. And I don't know what I'll do when I come back. I mean, maybe I'll consider this two weeks more about compassion, the follow up on compassion. Maybe there's a post compassionate topic to talk about. So I don't know. So with so oral start a new topic. So we'll see. And now thank you very, very much and I appreciate so much that the chance to explore this topic with you all for these weeks and and I look forward to do more more of it. Thank you