Expert: John Willemsens aka Advayavadananda - 12/8/2008

Question
I recently find I am having difficulty feeling compassion for others.  For animals and the planet yes, for humans, no.  I would like to feel compassionate but can't seem to.  When I look deeper into this, I have difficulty understanding the teachings of Buddhism.

Here is my question: Buddhism teaches we should be selfless; we should lose our ego.  It also teaches we should be compassionate.  

Compassion is defined as "a deep awareness of, and sympathy for, another's suffering."  The idea of awareness and sympathy necessarily implies the ability on the part of the subject practitioner to look into his own soul, his own experience, and find harmony or common ground with that of his object, i.e., the person he is helping.

But how can one have compassion, or awareness, or sympathy, without a self or an ego?  Otherwise, who or what is it, exactly, that is feeling compassionate or sympathetic?  A non-being?  A non-self?  An egoless non-entity?  Where do these feelings come from, if not from an ego?  This doesn't make sense to me and I keep returning to the view that these two ideas, selflessness and compassion, are inconsistent and mutually exclusive.

I would appreciate some guidance on this point.

Thanks.

Answer
Hello David,

You do not seem to accept your own selflessness and, when you do, you shall see the consistency of selflessness and compassion. It is i.m.o. because you hold on to your ego that your natural compassion and empathy eludes you.

Kind regards,
Advayavadananda.