I am Theravādin because I believe it to be the authentic tradition that keeps most firmly to what the Buddha actually taught than the other schools of Buddhism whose sutras I doubt the authenticity of, to whatever extent.
However, earlier this year I dipped my toes in Tibetan Buddhism, although I didn't take initiations or anything, because in early February I had an extraordinarily profound compassionate experience and I perceived Theravada Buddhism as indeed lacking that important focus on what I considered the highest thing: compassion.
In the teachings, karuṇā (compassion) has its place as the third element in the Right Intention factor of the Eightfold Path, and also as the second of the brahmavihāras. Greater emphasis is placed on sīla (virtue), samādhi (concentration or meditation), and paññā (wisdom) with karuṇā perhaps able to be put in a subcategory of one or more of these three.
In Mahāyāna, in contrast, compassion is dealt a central place. When I think of it, it seems that their two most cherished qualities are prajñā (wisdom) and karuṇā (compassion). Although, strangely, it is missing from their six perfections (pāramitā): generosity, virtue, patience, concentration and wisdom.
I feel, overall, that Mahāyānists' focus on compassion is something that we should emulate. We practice mettā (love, or loving-kindness) and it is indeed a wonderful divine abiding, but why don't we have more instructions on how to practice compassion?
In actual practice, I've been to a monastery (Amaravati) twice, and at the time I was suffering, and when one is suffering one can sense who has compassion and who doesn't. I personally didn't feel compassion as pervading that place. The people and the monks and nuns seemed very happy, wise, intelligent, good and well-mannered, but I didn't feel cared for - it was more as if everyone was focused on their own personal development.
When Mahāyānists would criticize Theravādins as "selfish", I was always a bit hurt by that. In my mind was "How can they say that?". But earlier this year, when I sort of moved to the other side myself, I thought of Theravāda as selfish myself! I thought there is this obsession with personal attainments rather than that of selfless caring, cherishing and compassion for others to the degree emphasised in Mahāyāna.
The above all may seem like a criticism towards Therāvada. So why did I come back to my roots then, since I've been a Theravādin for more than 11 of the 12 years as a Buddhist now? Because I went back to my original assumption that the sūtras of Mahāyāna were most likely not delivered by the Buddha. I appreciate a lot of what Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna teach, especially compassion, Buddha-nature, emptiness and bodhicitta, but how could the sūtras have been preserved in the Dragon realm for "more intelligent future generations", etc.
For a while there, I lost a little bit of my faith there in both, but then a Theravāda monk on Facebook seemed upset that I had gone to Tibetan Buddhism and explained how it was a "blend of Buddhas teachings and Hinduism and Tibetian culture; most of the Tibetan teachings are NOT given by the Buddha" and that "Therawada is the direct linage of Buddha's original sangha" finally asking me "Do you want to follow a non-enlightened philosophy or dhamma of the Buddha, enlightenment teaching?" and I was stirred and realised this was true, so I "came back home".
Anyway, back to the topic of the thread, compassion in Theravada. I simply wish there was more of it. When I had that deeply compassionate experience in February, which was caused by a deep seeing into and awareness of the immense suffering of human beings simply as I was walking around Wythenshaw, Manchester and the resulting empathy which swelled in my heart, my whole vision of life overturned. I had already been cultivating wisdom and compassion for months and had gained a great deal of happiness, and I was also counselling people online having learned through my own experiences of suffering and the overcoming of it, so this profound experience was like a culmination of it.
The point is that it was probably one of the most beautiful feelings I had ever felt in my life. And this is what I wrote shortly after my experience:
So yes, in Theravāda we practice a lot of mettā-bhavanā and that's great, I've also felt that selfless loving-kindness for human beings and the feeling is also very uplifting, but compassion, to me seems deeper and more beneficial for both the one who feels it and the one who feels being cared for, yet it's not as emphasized either in theory or in practice, it seems. Which would give valid ground for Buddhists of other schools to criticize us."Suffering awakens compassion. Compassion awakens the heart. When the heart is awakened there is joy within you and more joy and less pain around you.
If you focus on looking at cruelty, cruelty will obscure the heart. Then you suffer and you make others suffer.
If you see the suffering within you and around you, and you arouse the feeling of deep empathy and a willingness to help, you will be filled with a feeling you will find difficult to describe, a feeling so tender and loving, that makes you forget about yourself and your own pain but rather to look for the pain and suffering all around us. The feeling becomes overwhelming and you realise there is more in the world than just what you thought was its centre (you) - the people and beings around us.
Not only does this lead to deep emotional states - but if they are skilful ones - not feelings of pity or shadenfreude, let alone cruelty - but feelings of interconnectedness, the fact that we all matter, we are here on this Planet to help each other, recognising our own common struggle as human beings overwhelmed with all sorts of troubles, difficulties and pain - physical, mental, relational, etc.
People speak of love, but not so much of compassion. Maybe there is fear that one will be affected negatively by the pain of others and one will have to suffer, too. Quite the contrary - you are affected, deeply so, but it is the most profound feeling of caring and empathy that embraces another - or many others - and dispels the darkness of the night.. and makes you sob like a little kid when you watch the below video though you are a grown man <3
And in the end you feel profound peace, well-being and harmony with yourself and everyone and everything around you, while they, in turn, feeling protected and safe, respond with a smile - so gentle and warm - that your heart warms even more and a soft, fresh, breeze pervades the sky...
And then you realise why we were all put on Earth in the first place."
The teaching of compassion is there in Theravāda, don't get me wrong, but it's not emphasized enough, in teachings, in books, or put into practice as much as it should - in my humble opinion.
Still, a good saying is: "Be the change you wish to see in the world." So I'll just stick to making it a cornerstone of my practice along with wisdom and virtue and put it in action again. Because compassion in action may indeed be "the highest thing in the world."
Thank you for reading.