Srila Prabhupada’s compassion.
Feelings of pity and sorrow are evoked when we see the sufferings of our fellow man. Our attempts to alleviate that distress by acts of charity are certainly regarded as noble acts of benevolence, and there have been many people who have made selfless sacrifices for the poor, infirm and marginalised. The world would definitely be a better place if more people were benevolent, concerned, kind, and empathetic – qualities collectively appreciated as compassion. Depending on one’s premise however, compassion can be understood in different ways. Srila Prabhupada enlightened us about our real identity – that “I am not this body, but a spirit soul”. On this level of insight, compassion has a much deeper significance. Srila Prabhupada taught and lived by this premise. He stated: Material compassion, lamentation and tears are all signs of ignorance of the real self. Compassion for the eternal soul is self-realisation… No one knows where compassion should be applied. Compassion for the dress of a drowning man is senseless. A man fallen in the ocean of nescience cannot be saved simply by rescuing his outward dress – the gross material body. As an enlightened soul, Srila Prabhupada felt pain at the distress of others and wanted to relieve their suffering. He explained that compassion for the material body alone does not provide a lasting solution. He saw the suffering of the living entity as a symptom of a deeper problem - the misidentification of the real person (the soul) with the temporary material body. As long as the spirit soul identified with this body, it would have to repeatedly endure birth after birth and the concomitant suffering typical of material existence.
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