Mandy: Dear James, I think of reincarnation as a framework for worldly people so they can manage disturbing happenings in the world. But what I AM has always been and doesn’t die and get reborn. Getting fixated on rebirth can actually distract from a truer vision of you as consciousness/awareness, right? In the same way, karma yoga clearly has gifts for the jivas but is a tool for helping beginners.
So is compassion like that too? Too much being carried away with being a very sattvic reflecting medium and doing good in the world may detract from a truth of you, awareness, whose nature IS love. Then does compassion look different in the realized one? Because I know I’m different – social worker to semi-Western sannyasi! ☺
James: Hi, Mandy.
Rebirth: short answer – yes.
Long answer – from the Self’s point of view there is only Self, i.e. unborn existence/consciousness, so there is no actual rebirth. From the individual’s point of view there is rebirth but it doesn’t actually take care of worldly worries, because it implies death, which is a samsari’s most disturbing concern since it spells the end of life to which they all cling because being aware of your own existence is the highest kind of love. Rebirth is actually just a symbol for change, which makes worldly people uncomfortable, since their primary need is security owing to their lack of Self-knowledge. So they are always worried about what has happened, is happening or is going to happen, in which case they are unable to appreciate the eternal unborn blissful nature of their own existence. Although they are eternal, they identify with the body and fear the end of life, not realizing that life is eternal. Krishna gives both these arguments to Arjuna in the second chapter of the Gita.
Compassion is the nature of the Self. When your vision of non-duality is firm you understand that there is no difference between one sentient being [and another,] and that love is the nature of all sentient beings, so you give everyone the same consideration you give yourself. There is no room for injury. So compassion is just understanding – what supports you, like your feet. That is why they revere the feet in India.
The feeling of compassion is, as you say, is sattvic, reflected bliss, which comes and goes and is variable according to the nature of the subtle body at the moment. Jivas who don’t know they are the Self need to cultivate it in the hope that it will invoke the mercy of Isvara and will lead them to Self-knowledge. So it is like training wheels as you say. The downside is that it reinforces the idea of doership and becomes an act, a caricature. So you see all these people doing namaste like bobbleheads with no understanding. They make a big deal about it because it makes them feel virtuous, whereas true compassion is natural. It is not a big deal to be sympathetic and empathetic. Trungpa called reflected bliss “idiot” compassion because it may very well mask one’s own lack of compassion for oneself and others. The key to gaining compassion is knowledge of Isvara, insofar as when you see that Isvara is the doer, you understand that nobody, including yourself, would be the jerk they are if they could help it, so your heart becomes tender, like it does around children.
~ Much love, James
