Feelings and Vows: Dharmic Understandings on the Relationship between Compassion and Nonviolence

In Guardians of the Transcendent, Anne Vallely recalls a Śvetāmbara Terāpanth nun reciting Ācārya Bhikṣu’s twenty principles of dharma. The final principle declares: “Nonviolence and compassion are one and the same.” Beginning with Jainism, this talk explores the relationship between compassion and nonviolence across dharmic traditions, giving additional attention to early Buddhism and Classical Yoga. Can the two be equated when compassion often appears as a feeling, disposition, or orientation (bhāvanā), while nonviolence is typically framed as a vow of disciplined practice (vrata)? To investigate this question, the talk engages a contemporary psychological definition of compassion as “a cognitive, affective, and behavioral process consisting of: 1) Recognizing suffering; 2) Understanding the universality of suffering; 3) Feeling empathy; 4) Tolerating uncomfortable feelings aroused in response; and 5) Motivation to act/acting to alleviate suffering.” By juxtaposing these frameworks, the talk clarifies how principles, feelings, and practices intersect—and diverge—in shaping ethical thought and life within dharmic traditions.