Compassion is not an attribute of any one religion. It is a universal principle for happiness and peace. In a world torn by conflict and strife where violence and not love dictates people’s action, what every person at every age needs to learn is the art of nurturing compassion within.  Whoever you may be, you need compassion.  Compassion should no more lie in the ideologies of Philosophers or in the lucrative rewards of theologians (in after life). The voice of compassion needs to be heard in every household, educational institution, office, mall and theatre besides other places and circumstances.

Compassion begins with empathy.  Empathy is the ability to feel for another. Those who are sensitive to the motions of life, to the experience of pain and pleasure are capable of empathy. Those who have paid attention to their emotional upsurges, the unintelligent ways of anger, hurt or hate, the irrationality of fear, feel empathy for another who is going through a similar emotion. Empathy and compassion thus born would naturally blossom into acts of kindness to reach out to others.

Well being of the other is the highest priority for a compassionate person. Hence his/her actions would reflect tremendous intelligence, fortitude and discretion. Compassion is not the armour of the weak. It is a weapon of the strong. To believe that anger and violence can solve our problem is a mistaken belief. Problems at micro as well as macro level arise because of lack of understanding and love between people. Situation based problems need better strategy and skill to solve them but  emotion based problems need people who are involved, in moving out of those negative emotions that are causing them.

That is why any constructive change can never be effected through anger and violence. Compassion is the answer. Let us nurture the noble virtue of compassion with dedication.  Let us see the faces of people who walk into our world with smiles, tears, affection and wrath. Let us mediate on their feelings to let compassion blossom.