ABSTRACT
Compassion is an unpopular word nowadays. It points towards commitment, involvement, caring, love and generosity of heart. These are directions closely related to feeling and sentiment, sources of considerable embarrassment for twentieth-century man. It is less dangerous to be cool than passionate in contemporary society. Zen Buddhists use the term Karuna to describe a process rather than a quality in particular people. At this highest level, Karuna does not attach itself to the intricacies of suffering or to individual human situations. It is involved with the salvation of all living things. It spreads out the map of enlightenment for all who care to look. Generosity is an important component of compassion. But giving has many pit-falls to trap the unwary and unsighted. It can effectively help inflate the ego. In the helping process it can become a peculiar form of parsimony.
