Compassion
Compassion is a kind of healing agent which helps us to tolerate
the hurt of seeing the truth. The function of compassion in the
Work is not to reduce hurt; its function is to lead to the truth.
Much of the time, the truth is painful or scary. Compassion makes
it possible to tolerate that hurt and fear. It is on the side
of truth, and helps us to persist in our search for truth. The
truth will ultimately dissolve the hurt, but this is a by-product.
In fact, it is only when compassion is present that people will
allow themselves to see the truth. Where there is no compassion
there is no trust. (Diamond Heart Book 1, pg 92)
Compassion and hurt
In the beginning people take compassion to mean the feeling of
wanting to alleviate the person’s pain or take it away from
them. That’s usually what people think compassion is. A
deeper level of compassion is, of course, taking action whether
you feel inclined to or not. The third level of compassion could
include hurting somebody else, or not taking their pain away when
you see it. If you take their pain away they won’t learn
something. Sometimes they need the pain, in order to learn something
about themselves. They might not even learn about compassion,
because the way to learn about compassion is to experience hurt.
Now if you take people’s hurt away, they won’t learn
how to be compassionate themselves. The most objective compassion
has to do with truth. The point is the truth; whether the person
feels hurt or doesn’t feel hurt is immaterial. The point
is truth, the golden truth. (Diamond Heart Book 1, pg 113-114)
Compassion, truth and suffering
So there is a reciprocal relationship between truth and compassion,
and there is a connection between these things and suffering.
But the suffering is not the point; suffering is something in
between that we go through. From the perspective of Essence, it
is irrelevant. The important part is truth, the truth about who
we are, no matter how much hurt, suffering, and fear it takes
to get there. Sometimes the pain is there so that the person will
learn the truth. (Diamond Heart Book 1, pg 94)
The suffering is already there, as a result of the lies. The
truth simply exposes it. And when it is exposed, the person can
let go of it. So the truth is compassionate in that way. It can
eliminate suffering by exposing the lies that actually cause it.
When you know more completely what compassion is, and what truth
is, you will see that compassion is the door to the truth. You
will go through all kinds of suffering, and compassion will keep
the corridor open for you, and you will see that at the end of
the corridor is truth. A state of Essence which is truth. Essence
as truth. (Diamond Heart Book 1, pg 95)
