Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands
1th June 2017
Compassion
“Love care and concern”
Any word that indicates emotion in any language is understood either as knowledge or as wisdom. Knowledge is superficial understanding of any word that indicates a particular emotion. Wisdom, however, is deep understanding of any word that indicates a particular emotion.
Understanding of knowledge is an inherent characteristic of intellect. As intellect evolves, knowledge evolves as wisdom as well. Man does not control his intellect. Therefore, wisdom of a word that indicates an emotion evolves and man can make neither knowledge nor wisdom happen to him.
Compassion is a word that indicates an emotion and so too are love, care and concern. This implies that love, care and concern are either understood as knowledge or as wisdom and the understanding depends on the evolvement of the intellect and not on a man or a woman.
Love, as an emotion of knowledge, is an expectation of how the other should be by each other that are in love. This implies that love as knowledge is conditional and not unconditional.
Love, as an emotion of wisdom, is unconditional, because wisdom understands that each are who they are, and cannot be expected to be other than who they are. This is because they are who they are is an expression of the evolutionary process of life.
Care, as an emotion of knowledge, is given as a social etiquette. This implies that care as knowledge is a social etiquette which may or may not be present. It is present if there is personal interest in it and not present if personal interest is absent.
Care, as an emotion of wisdom, is spontaneous, because wisdom gives care spontaneously in every moment that is possible without personal interests whatsoever.
Concern, as an emotion of knowledge, is advice that is given to the other with regards to what to do and what not to do, what to speak and what not to speak, what to think and what not to think and how to behave and how not to behave.
Concern, as an emotion of wisdom, never gives advice, because wisdom understands that doing, speaking and thinking evolve to happen and cannot be other than what it is in every moment.
Similarly, compassion as knowledge is a conditional emotion of love, care and concern to some and not to all. The emotion of compassion as wisdom is unconditional love, unconditional care and unconditional concern to one and all in every moment of daily life.
Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2017
Editor’s Note:
Teachers, professors, instructors, guides and tutors, to name but a few of this genre, are the gifts of life. They are highly respected and honoured in every society – and rightly so. As such, they fulfil the important function of providing knowledge for those starting on their education and later on the knowledge required for participation in the challenges and demands of their life. The knowledge and advice thus provided is conditional upon situation and circumstance. Deep understanding of the knowledge, however, revealed by the wise, as gifted in this article, leads to wisdom.
Julian Capper, U.K