Compassion Isn’t About Being Nice. It’s An Act Of Courage.
Joe Pennington
Mindfulness Instructor & Marketing Manager at Remind Integral Wellbeing Center
If you didn’t know any better, you would think the image of Mahakala, with its three staring eyes, dagger-like fangs, and tiara of skulls, is meant to represent the Lord of Death.
Especially when you realize it’s surrounded by flames and standing on two corpses.
And in some traditions, the Lord of Death is exactly what it is.
But in Tibetan Buddhism, Mahakala symbolizes the powerful and ferocious quality of the compassionate mind.
Compassion is often seen as a quality that’s soft, warm, and nice. Like a harmless bunny rabbit with big floppy ears and fluffy pink pajamas.
Not as a scowling monster that’s more terrifying than the devil itself.
But this common idea of compassion as being all about warm hugs and being pleasant to others is a modern myth. Compassion comes from the Latin root com, meaning with, and pati, meaning to suffer. Literally “to be with suffering.”
As shown by Mahakala, true compassion is an unwavering force that cuts through negative patterns, is unphased by fear and hesitation, and doesn’t let anything stand in its way.