Fools-Gold / Fools-Love / Hazardous-Compassion

https://www.reddit.com/r/Meditation/comments/24cf3q/foolsgold_foolslove_hazardouscompassion/

Fools-gold appears to be gold but upon close inspection it becomes clear that it is not gold.

True compassion balances loving-concern with clear wisdom. This wisdom enables us to stay calm and think clearly how best to help, without being carried away by our emotions.

~ Sangye Khadro

As one of the greatest 20 century Tibetan teachers, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, has said, ‘It is better not to have any compassion than to have idiot compassion’. What is idiot compassion? It is when, without thinking, our heart pours out and we become obsessed, so over whelmed by the object of our compassion that we loose our sense of focus. We become completely overwhelmed. So, even when we have compassion, we also have to be present, be aware.

~Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche

It is perhaps most important in working with others that we do not develop idiot compassion, which means always trying to be kind. Since this superficial kindness lacks courage and intelligence, it does more harm than good. It is as though a doctor, out of apparent kindness, refuses to treat his patient because the treatment might be painful, or as though a mother cannot bear the discomfort of disciplining her child.

~Chogyam Trungpa

This challenge is (as with most things) easiest to see in others and in how we are tempted to behave toward others. It can be exceptionally difficult to clearly see this in how we behave toward ourselves.

An extreme example of this can be seen by looking at cases of domestic violence. If you found yourself in relationship where your partner physically assaulted you the most compassionate first step in such a situation would be to remove yourself from that situation. That would eliminate the possibility for your partner to engage in that violence against you again and it obviously would protect your heath.

Now what if you could NOT remove yourself? That is the situation we find ourselves in when it comes to our monkey-mind/ego-mind.

An effective practice of meditation can be a way to clearly see how to make compassionate choices (for ourselves & others) regardless of what malicious hi-jinx the ego-mind resorts to.