Dalai Lama The Ethic Of Compassion Summary

In Dalai Lama’s piece, “The Ethic of Compassion”, he argues compassion is the key to life and happiness. Lama explains the meaning of compassion and ways to achieve it. Throughout his piece he rebuttals several different counter arguments. Lama is able to argue compassion is a responsibility to all, not just those we are close to and explains why it should be used in our professional and personal lives.

Lama starts his chapter with his meaning of compassion. He shares that most “understand it mainly in the terms of empathy- our ability to enter into and, to some extent, share others’ suffering.” (Lama, 538). He describes compassion to be somewhat natural for humans but, must be continuously worked on in order to reach “great compassion” which “causes the one who is compassionate to dedicate themselves entirely to helping others overcome both their suffering and the causes of their suffering.” ( Lama, 538). However, he explains that

reaching “great compassion” is not a practical goal and it should be used more as an inspiration.
Not only is “great compassion” used as an inspiration, but also a reminder against selfishness and not to “neglect our responsibilities toward those outside our circle.” (Lama, 539).

Our responsibility towards others means our kindness should not only be for family and friends but should be shown to anyone we meet. Compassion is meant to be equal, “if people only deserve compassion based on their actions, then we can hardly expect ourselves or others to feel it toward all human beings. Extending it to everyone would require a shift in focus from action to something shared and underlying.” (LaTour, 10). Relationships based on attraction are unstable because “someone we consider a dear friend one day can become our sworn enemy the next.” (Lama, 539). In order to distribute compassion equally, it is best to not depend it on the circumstances of each person, such as if a person is wealthy or poor. “We forget that just like us, whether fortunate or unfortunate, distant or near, they desire to be happy and not to suffer.” (Lama,

540).
Compassion should not be used for just special circumstances; it should be incorporated into our everyday lives. Although many people think there is no place for compassion at work, “Lack of caring exhausts human beings and results in diminished productivity as well as loss of soul.” (Walsh, 66). Lama explains, “because when we ignore the question of the impact our actions have on others’ well-being, inevitably we end up hurting them.” (Lama, 341).