Generating Compassion not Contempt

Photo by Matt Collamer on Unsplash

“Do not turn your face away with contempt from people and do not walk arrogantly upon the earth.” (Qur’an, Luqman 31:18)

I admit that there have been times when riding the subway in New York that I have been repulsed by a unkempt and dirty homeless person reeking of urine and other unpleasant bodily odors sitting or lying down in the subway car. I turned my eyes away and tried to breathe minimally through my nose. While I wouldn’t admit to myself that I had contempt for this person, my aversion was certainly – subconsciously perhaps – tainted with disdain.

Of course, one can be repulsed by someone but not feel contempt. But are these two reactions really that different?

Inextricably linked to both contempt and repulsion is arrogance. For a negative reaction to someone reinforces our separation from that person and at the same time our superiority. Our ego-construction preens itself on differences not similarities.

However, a mind that is focused on destabilizing and eventually dislodging the ego from its controlling position will be able to generate genuine compassion not only for one who assaults our olfactory senses but also for one whose toxic speech or actions disturbs us in some way.

Feeling contempt and arrogance for others is a formidable obstacle preventing our own peace of mind because it strengthens our artificial separation from others. As long as we maintain that powerful habitual tendency to believe unquestioningly that we are self-contained individuals, we will not experience inner harmony.

We thus need to turn towards not away from our fellow humans with whom we share this earth.