Im helped by a gentle notion from Buddhist psychology, that there are near enemies to every great virtuereactions that come from a place of care in us, and which feel right and good, but which subtly take us down an ineffectual path. Sorrow is a near enemy to compassion and to love. It is borne of sensitivity and feels like empathy. But it can paralyze and turn us back inside with a sense that we cant possibly make a difference. The wise Buddhist anthropologist and teacher Roshi Joan Halifax calls this a pathological empathy of our age. In the face of magnitudes of pain in the world that come to us in pictures immediate and raw, many of us care too much and see no evident place for our care to go. But compassion goes about finding the work that can be done. Love cant help but stay present
About This Quote
About Krista Tippett
Krista Tippett was American journalist, author, and entrepreneur. Krista Tippett is an American journalist, author, and public intellectual. Since 2003, she has served as creator and host of the Peabody Award winning program On Being. Read more on Wikipedia →