Compassion for other living creatures

Humans are the most evolved creatures on earth, where they have extremely advanced brains, the ability to understand various things and the will to diversify themselves beyond a restricted area. Humans are not just physically or mentally evolved, but they have a greater level of emotional diversity as well. 

They experience various emotions, all of which are crucial for existence. But one emotion that is not just important for self but others is compassion. Humans cry when they are hurt, laugh when they are happy, express anger when something offends them and show compassion when they feel for someone else emotionally. As the population grows, all the emotions such as grief, sadness, anger and laughter are becoming more expressive and prevalent. Still, it has been observed that the emotion of compassion is endangered. This article will discuss the emotion of compassion in human beings and its various aspects towards other creatures.

Meaning of Compassion

There are various emotions that people experience. They are happy, sad, shocked, surprised, e.t.c. Among many emotions, some can be felt for others. Compassion is one of them. The emotion of experiencing pain or grief or sadness or suffering is called compassion. It is not a restricted feeling that one human gets for another, but an evolved one where words are not needed, and it can be felt for any other creature. 

Compassion is the highest form of understanding and acceptance towards the mistakes and flaws of others. It takes a great deal of maturity and emotional advancement to feel the loss of others. Compassion is the one emotion that is not just important for humans, but it is desirable for animals, birds and other living creatures. It is a very strong emotion directly proportional to the actions taken after experiencing it. If a person feels someone’s pain or grief and does nothing or doesn’t feel like doing anything, then it is not compassion. It is empathy where people feel someone’s pain, but it is not strong enough to be converted into actions. When empathy becomes strong enough to convert itself into action, it is compassion. 

Very few people feel and understand it, and even fewer live with it. But somewhere, every person experiences it at some point in time for someone. It happens when people love someone selflessly like mothers and pour their emotions for them; there is almost always the existence of mutual compassion. Infact, everyone can go out of the way to alleviate the suffering of the person they love and ensure their happiness, but it is not there for someone they don’t know or for a creature that cannot express itself. 

Compassion towards other people

The most common way of solving a person’s problem is to enter their skin and feel the same way. This emotion is commonly present in parents towards their child and life partners. It can be felt when someone close is suffering from grief, and their loved ones feel the same and take all possible measures to reduce it. 

But something which is not common and is heart-wrenching is that people lack compassion for fellow human beings if they don’t know them. Hearing of deaths, loss or suffering of random people does not raise any emotion among humans these days. Even if they find someone suffering in front of their eyes, they do nothing about it and go on with their lives. But it is important to understand the pain of others because to grow humanity, people promote sharing and happiness, not leave others in suffering or, to make matters worse, become the reason for it.

Compassion towards animals

Animals are beautiful creatures. They are as important to the world as humans. They don’t speak the way humans do, but they are equally lovable, and if one tries to understand them, animals can be the best friends of humans. Many people have dogs and cats as their pets, and these are taken care of very well, but the very same people don’t shower even a negligible amount of love on strays and other animals. 

Any creature, when handled with love and compassion, can give it back a thousand times. People should remember that stray animals also have the right to live as much as humans, and one should always drive carefully. Besides, it is important to know that even the tiniest creature has something to contribute to nature and the world, even if it’s not known to humans. Hence, being compassionate towards them is as important as loving them.

Compassion towards environment

With the rise of pollution and hazardous substances globally, the environment is suffering the most. It is the responsibility of humans to clean the waste that they have produced. If someone throws their garbage in their neighbour’s backyard, the neighbour won’t tolerate it. The same thing happens with the environment. Everyone should take care of garbage and clean it even if they haven’t littered the place. Cleaning waste and producing the least possible amount is the highest degree of compassion towards the environment.

Conclusion

Compassion is a beautiful emotion. It gives the person the strength to help others and feel their pain. Therefore, everyone should always try building this inside themselves because it is the essential aspect of coexistence.