My study and practice of Eastern psychology began when I was 17 years old. During that time and throughout the several years that followed, I actively incorporated many of the teachings of Buddhist wisdom into my life. Through continued practice, many of these teachings eventually became second nature to me. I no longer have to consciously remind myself to apply them because they have become habitual responses to the events of life. One of the teachings that has had the greatest impact on me is the teaching of compassion. Through my many experiences practicing compassion, I have come to place great value on it as an effective method of emotional self-healing. The practice of compassion has helped guide me through some of the most difficult periods of my life and has provided me with a way to respond to suffering with greater understanding rather than allowing suffering to control my state of mind.
For a period of approximately eight years beginning when I was 18 years old, I endured circumstances that involved significant hardship and injustice. I attribute much of my ability to endure these experiences to my practice of Buddhist wisdom. During these difficult periods, the teaching of compassion became particularly important because it gave me a way to respond to my suffering internally. While compassion could not remove the circumstances I was experiencing, it could change the way I related to those circumstances. Instead of adding further suffering to an already difficult situation through harshness toward myself, I could deliberately respond to myself with understanding and compassion.
The most important practice of the teaching of compassion is self-compassion. To practice self-compassion, we take a moment to acknowledge ourselves, recognize what we are experiencing, and deliberately choose to respond to ourselves with compassion. Rather than criticizing ourselves for struggling, we recognize that suffering is part of the human experience and allow ourselves to be treated by our own minds with the same understanding that we would offer another person who was going through a difficult time. This practice can help alleviate emotional suffering, clear the mind, and improve our emotional state. The more frequently we practice self-compassion, the more naturally it can become our response to life's unfortunate circumstances.
The second important practice of the teaching of compassion is having compassion for others. When we deliberately practice compassion toward other people, we cultivate the mental state associated with compassion, which can also strengthen our ability to practice compassion toward ourselves. Compassion for others can also broaden our understanding of suffering by reminding us that hardship is not an experience unique to ourselves. Every person encounters difficulties, disappointments, and forms of suffering throughout life. Recognizing this commonality can help us develop greater understanding toward both ourselves and others. In this way, practicing compassion for others can reinforce the practice of self-compassion and contribute to our own emotional well-being.
Many people may not realize that compassion can be deliberately practiced as a way of responding to suffering. We often think of our emotional responses as things that simply happen to us, but practices such as compassion can give us a greater degree of influence over how we respond to difficult experiences. By learning to practice compassion toward ourselves and others, we can gradually develop a more compassionate habitual response to life's challenges. In my experience, this practice has been an important part of emotional self-healing and personal growth. When we learn that we can use our own minds to respond to suffering with compassion, we take an important step toward becoming wiser human beings who use the mind not only to understand life, but also to support our own well-being.
© 2026 Hazon, Nir
