Walking the Wall

I over analyze things. I am, after all, an English major and digging into a text is fun for me. But this over analyzing gets in the way sometimes, which is why small, simple books like For a Future to be Possible are good for me–because I am struck by the simple things that I loose in the continual shuffle of my mind. The terms “compassion” and “loving kindness” are akin to mantras in Buddhism–they are expounded on in nearly every book, every talk on the subject. I thought I’d given them a great deal of thought, but what I’d really given a great deal of thought to is compassion as somehow the two had blended together and had become synonymous. Being two aspects of love, they are deeply connected, but they are different:

“Compassion…is the intention and capacity to relieve the suffering of another person or living being. Loving kindness…is the intention and capacity to bring joy and happiness to another person or living being” (16).

There is strength in their connection–but a profoundness in their differences that I missed.