This is an old article. On compassion.
I dare to disagree: compassion is not a feeling, compassion is not an emotion. It is a capacity.
It is a human capacity to recognize the other person as a person like you, recognize their state as a state you have seen or experienced, and, surprise, compassion is a willingness to help the person through the situation, inner or outer, to the other side, where they can be well.
The way most people relate to compassion, is more like pity. A superiority. A leaning down to another.
No recognition of the sameness, only the difference: I am better off, I am better, I am lucky.
Compassion is rather a partnership, albeit temporary. But that is, probably, too much to ask of today’s humans… you?
When you feel compassion for someone, how does it feel to you? Does it feel sad, scary, loving, or a mixture? Think about it before you read on. When was the last time you felt compassion? Who were you with? Who was it for? What was ha