(karuṇā): Acknowledgement of, feeling for the suffering of others, and the desire that suffering might end
There’s almost always someone in our lives that’s going through a difficult challenge or period in their life. A death in the family, the end of a relationship, a difficult circumstance like the loss of a job or a sickness—these kinds of experiences are challenging for almost everyone when we go through them.
Can you bring to mind someone who is going through some kind of difficulty in their life right now? Can you be aware of what they are going through, and imagine what they might be experiencing as they do? How would you feel in a similar situation?
As you are aware of the suffering they might be experiencing, can you connect to a desire that their difficulties might be eased, that their suffering might be resolved?
One specific practice we can use to cultivate compassion is called tonglen, or sending and receiving. In tonglen, we connect our breath to the process of cultivating compassion. On the inhale, we visualize inhaling pain and suffering as a black, tarry, sticky substance. We inhale the pain and suffering as a way to purify and transform it. On the exhale, we visualize our breath as a beautiful, pure, white, cleansed light and mist.
It is recommended that you begin tonglen practice with yourself, and then move on to working with others.