Finding Empathy, Humanity, & Open Heartedness in Chaotic Times | A Buddhist Perspective

Recently on break from medical school I had been thinking about everything happening in the United States politically right now and wondering how a good portion of this country seems to have lost their humanity.

This prompted deep introspection which later facilitated the offering of a Dharma Talk at the online Buddhist Sangha I help co-direct called Daybreak Oneness.

What inspired this talk was the host of an Independent media channel on YouTube who stated...

Some people need to find their tragedy before their empathy.

After hearing that, I thought, "Wow, that’s a Dharma Talk!" 

So here I am, perhaps offering you a little sliver to the puzzle piece of each of us finding our humanity again regardless of political affiliation. 

There's evidence in the daily media that many of us are indeed a prime example of finding our tragedy before our empathy. This is heard in perpetual news cycles of people grappling with who they voted for in November 2024 and how his current Presidency has disrupted their jobs, careers, healthcare, housing, and other government services of which they rely on. 

Beyond what is seen in our media, we too can witness this reckoning in our own lives, not just politically speaking but when a loved one passes and moves on into the great unknown, this often serves as a wake-up call; when a family member gets into a serious accident or their health rapidly deteriorates, this too is often a wake up call; when human rights globally are being stripped away from those most marginalized in society due to the rise of authoritarian governments, this is a major wake-up call. 

What I'm attempting to point to here is that tragedy often serves as an agent of awakening when we least expect it and sadly, many of us are unprepared for when times like these arrive.

Human suffering, or Dukkha, as it's referred to in the Buddhist tradition has a way of rapidly humbling the human heart. Many of us given our life experiences walk through life with a wall up, unable to fully open ourselves to the suffering of others until we too have tasted sorrow, illness, grief, loss, tragedy, and despair, or even simply the unsatisfactoriness that is common among many of us throughout daily life.

For those that resonate with the Dharmic traditions, the Buddha prescribed a radical path, a path where practicing empathy, compassion, and humanity is at the forefront of our practice; it’s not just an afterthought when tragedy happens to strike. 

In committing to a practice like this we not only prepare our minds but more importantly, we prepare our hearts, thus allowing it to become more flexible, tender, open to, and ready for the inevitable suffering that life presents.

In fact, this is the first noble truth of the Buddhist Path, suffering can and will arise. This is not to say that all of life is suffering, it's an acknowledgement that suffering is an inevitable aspect of human life.  

So, what happens when empathy, compassion, and humanity becomes a conscious practice at the forefront of our lives rather than as a reaction to our own pain?

I'll answer this from two prospectives, one of which includes words of The Buddha and the other outlines the result of embodying this practice.

First and foremost, the Buddha makes ongoing calls for Karuna (Compassion) which is designated as one of The Four Immeasurables (The Brahmaviharas); the Buddha continually urges us to train the heart in empathy and compassion just as a musician trains their hands or voice.

The Metta Sutra suggests that “Even as a mother protects her only child with her life, so should we extend boundless loving-kindness to all living beings.”

Here we should acknowledge that the Buddha isn’t encouraging us to cherish only those that suffer like we do ourselves. Rather, this is a call to extend compassion to others now; universally, right here in this moment before our mind demands personal experience of pain to understand others. 

Isn’t this what we are seeing in our politics right now?

We can’t give immigrants empathy because we never personally struggled with having to immigrate to another country.

We can’t give empathy to the black or brown person because we don’t believe that racism or xenophobia actually exists because it never directly affected our lives so why would it affect theirs?

We can’t offer empathy to the queer or trans person because we don’t personally know a queer or trans person in our own lives affected by these anti-LGBTQIA+ laws or bigotry. 

We can’t offer empathy and compassion to the Palestinian people because our family never experienced genocide and apartheid. 

Do you see how these narratives center the person(s) lacking empathy rather than the person’s life that has been disrupted by the harms they’ve experienced?

My hope is that this awareness facilitates a call to action for us whether you're formally on the Buddhist path or not. Either way, this is an opportunity for each of us to awaken before tragedy happens to ourselves and to others; rather than in the reverse as described at the beginning of this article.

As human beings, suffering should soften us overtime; sadly what we’re seeing in today’s world is that suffering is hardening and dividing us.

Perhaps the fatal flaw of our current world is that people have not first extended empathy, compassion, and humanity to themselves. Thus, their suffering begins to harden them; unless it directly hits home and can begin softening them. 

If we learn to approach life from the perspective of what the Buddha mentions in the Dhammapada, where he states, "All conditioned things are subject to decay; strive on with diligence," perhaps we could be adequately prepare for the inevitable suffering that will arrive at some point in our lives. This is the nature of life, impermanence; the waxing and waning of joy, sorrow, excitement, regret, hope, frustration, bliss, ignorance; and so the cycle of life progresses. 

In fact, it is life's unpredictability and impermanence which demands that we prepare our hearts before suffering knocks on our door. Otherwise, as we’re seeing in the world right now, the heart hardens and grows brittle which in turn creates more suffering.

Isn't there a better way forward then perpetuating these cycles over and over again?

Building up our empathy muscle now ahead of when tragedy strikes is not about living in fear; it’s genuinely about building resilience, tenderness, open-heartedness, and equanimity in our lives while we're able to.

Whereas our current world is mired in traits and behaviors that are antithetical to empathy, compassion, and humanity; the moment we can begin recognizing these traits as a strength is the moment we can simultaneously acknowledge that tragedy is simply a part of the human condition and we can begin to greet these experiences with a heart that is already softened, prepared, open, and wise.

Empathy should not be an accident; it should be a deliberate training that we commit to throughout our daily lives. 

So, perhaps the challenge for many of us is that we learn to find empathy, compassion, and humanity before suffering arises.

This is a pro-active practice that not only prepares ourselves for our own tragedy but it's training us to become a refuge for many others beyond ourselves.

This is when we truly live up to The Boddhisattva Vow, when we can move through the world of stormy seas and turbulence all while gently holding the sorrow of the world with compassion, empathy, humanity, and wisdom.

If there’s one or two little Dharma nuggets I hope you'll take from this, it’s either: 

• Empathy NOW; tragedy later. Or...
• Find empathy BEFORE suffering arises.

May you be safe, may you be happy, and may you awaken to the empathy, compassion, and humanity within. May it be so!