This panel will explore the central role of compassion in both theory and practice in the Dharma traditions, with specific focus on Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Hinduism. Across these diverse spiritual paths, compassion is not only a virtue but also a transformative practice that shapes the way practitioners engage with themselves, others, and the world as they pursue liberation. Scholars will elucidate the unique expressions of compassion within each tradition, examining how compassion serves as a path to spiritual freedom, liberation, social harmony, and ethical living. The panel will highlight the philosophical underpinnings, practical applications, and transformative power of compassion as taught in each tradition, while demonstrating their applicability in contemporary society.
This presentation explores the ethical emphasis on compassion (karuṇā, dayā) in Jain and Buddhist traditions, particularly in relation to the Jain tenet of non-harming (ahiṃsā) and the Buddhist principle of loving-kindness (mettā). In Jainism, ahiṃsā and compassion are inseparable, functioning not only as social ethics but as rigorous ascetic disciplines encompassing thought, speech, and action. While orthodox Jain doctrine views compassion as karmically entangling, it also signals right insight (samyag-darśana), inspiring one to assist others. In Buddhism, the bodhisattva ideal likewise grounds compassion in a transformative orientation toward others’ suffering. This paper argues that in both traditions, compassion is not merely an emotional response, but a disciplined form of ethical self-cultivation rooted in detachment and the pursuit of a higher mode of being. Through vows, meditation, and philosophical reflection, Jain and Buddhist thinkers usually framed compassion as a transformative practice linking inner development with ethical engagement in the world.
This presentation will explore the Sikh ideal of the Sage Warrior (sant sipahi) as one who operates with compassionate courage in the face of injustice and suffering for communal and individual sovereignty, liberation, and freedom. In Sikh conceptions, compassion or ‘daya’ is most often translated as ‘mercy' signifying a sense of power, agency, and sovereignty of an individual, community, or the divine. It will examine the ways in which compassion or mercy (daya) is one of the five key virtues in Sikhism and how it is inextricably interlinked with the others: truth (sat), contentment (santokh), humility (nimrata), and love (pyaar). Through a hermeneutics of Gurbani, self, and other, this paper will explore the philosophical and practical ways in which compassionate courage is understood as a tool toward individual and collective liberation (mukti). It will do so by highlighting historic and contemporary Sikh examples of sacrifice, seva, non-violent protest, and movement organizing.
The sixteenth century Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition, inspired by Caitanya, envisions that supreme Godhead Kṛṣṇa has three aspects through which he simultaneously encompasses, oversees, and permeates the universe. Although Kṛṣṇa eternally resides in his transcendental realm Goloka-Vṛndāvana alongside associate devotees (bhaktas), Kṛṣṇa also animates the natural world and resides in the heart of every embodied being. This paper analyzes Gauḍīya philosopher Jīva Gosvāmin’s Bhakti Sandarbha in order to argue that the cosmological pervasiveness of Kṛṣṇa's divine presence is theorized as the foundation of all compassion in the Gauḍīya tradition. Jīva contends that as a bhakta progressively develops devotional love for Kṛṣṇa, so the expansive love for all other beings also spontaneously develops. I argue that the highest bhakti stages of soteriological realization according to the Gauḍīya tradition also align with the ethic of compassion such that every realized bhakta instinctively treats all beings like a dear son or friend.
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.