{"id":100446,"date":"2020-03-28T16:22:18","date_gmt":"2020-03-28T23:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=100446"},"modified":"2020-03-28T16:22:18","modified_gmt":"2020-03-28T23:22:18","slug":"compassion-for-better-health-and-happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/03\/28\/compassion-for-better-health-and-happiness\/","title":{"rendered":"COMPASSION: FOR BETTER HEALTH AND HAPPINESS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Genuine compassion is based on the\nrationale that all human beings have an innate desire to overcome suffering and\nbe happy. As an integral part of the Buddhist spiritual path, compassion is a\nstate of mind that is non-violent, non-harming and non-aggressive. It is a\nmental attitude based on the wish for others to be free of their suffering.  Compassion is associated with a sense of\ncommitment, responsibility and respect towards the other. It brings about a\nsense of affinity and closeness with others. Reaching out to help others can\ninduce a feeling of happiness and a calmer mind. Developing compassion and\naltruism has a positive impact on our physical and emotional health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clinical Psychologists <\/a>Elisha Goldstein and Stefanie <\/a>Goldstein reveal that research shows that feeling compassion causes our heart rate to slow,\nwhich makes us more relaxed and calm and leads to the release of the bonding\nhormone\u201d oxytocin, which helps us to feel more connected and affectionate toward\nothers. Also, it activates regions of the brain linked to empathy, caregiving,\nand pleasure. Researchers have discovered that people who actively practice\ncompassion and altruism have lower levels of inflammatory gene expression and\nhigher expression of antiviral and antibody genes than people who lived for\ngreater self-gratification or pleasure. Adopting\nan altruistic or unselfish lifestyle is a critical component of good mental\nhealth. Studies have shown that those regularly involved in volunteer\nactivities helping others, display feelings of warmth, more energy and elation.\nThey have a distinct feeling of calmness and enhanced self-worth. These caring\nactivities provide an interaction that is emotionally nourishing and relieves\none from a variety of stress- related physical disorders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metta\nbhavana<\/em>\u201d is a popular from of meditation practiced by Sri Lankan and other Theravada\nBuddhists. The word Mett\u0101<\/em> (Pali<\/a>) or Maithri<\/em>\n(Sanskrit) implies loving-kindness, benevolence, friendliness, amity, goodwill,\ngratitude, kindness and appreciation of others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mett\u0101<\/em> signifies a\nstrong wish for the happiness of others caring for the well-being of\nanother living being<\/a>, not expecting\nanything in return. This practice includes reciting specific words and phrases\nto evoke a boundless warm-hearted feeling,\u201d or visualizing suffering and\nwishing well for those who are suffering. It is practiced as a means of\ncultivating and expanding our natural capacity for an open and loving heart\nthat evokes compassion and joy in the happiness of others. The practice begins with the meditator cultivating compassion\nor benevolence  towards oneself and then\ntowards others, including one’s loved ones, friends, teachers, strangers,\nenemies, and finally towards all sentient beings<\/a>. The primary aim of Metta bhavana, is to send unconditional love,\npositive feelings and best wishes to others starting from familiar people to\nall the living beings in the universe expecting nothing in return. One needs to\nfirst direct compassion, and positive feelings towards oneself before directing\nthem towards others as it would naturally be difficult to radiate love and\npositive feelings towards others unless one has them within oneself. Those who practice self-compassion ruminate and experience less resentment, <\/a>and have higher\nemotional resilience. It is an effective way to control aggressive feelings\nincluding anger and has a therapeutic effect on reducing stress and anxiety. Self-compassion provides emotional strength allowing us to admit\nour shortcomings, forgive ourselves, motivate ourselves with kindness, care for\nothers, and be fully human. Each one of us possess the\npotential to free ourselves from mental states that perpetuate our own\nsuffering and the potential to find inner peace for ourselves and contribute to\nthe happiness of all around you. If we learn to cultivate inner calm and altruistic\nlove, our lives certainly would not lose any of its richness. Rapidly expanding research clearly demonstrates that\nself-compassion is related to emotional wellbeing, lower anxiety and\ndepression, maintenance of healthy habits such as diet and exercise, and more\nsatisfying personal relationships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nContemporary Scientific Field <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Metta\u2019 or Compassion meditation is a contemporary scientific field that\ndemonstrates the efficacy of metta and related meditative practices. Richard J. Davidson<\/a> (Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the\nUniversity of Wisconsin\u2013Madison as well as Founder and Chairperson of the\nCenter for Healthy Minds) has shown metta\nto induce changes in the brain\u2019s tempo parietal lobe. The benefits of metta\npractice are increasingly identified by contemporary research. Meditation on\ncompassion or benevolence is considered a good way to calm down a distraught\nmind and an antidote to anger<\/a>. Someone who\nhas cultivated benevolence will not be easily angered and can quickly quell\nanger that arises, being more caring, more loving, and more likely to love\nunconditionally. to harbour ill will or hostility. Cultivating benevolence is\nthought to contribute to a world of love, peace, and happiness. Meditation on\nbenevolence is considered a good way to calm down a distraught mind and an\nantidote to anger<\/a>. Someone who\nhas cultivated benevolence will not be easily angered and can quickly quell\nanger that arises, being more caring, more loving, and more likely to love\nunconditionally. Compassion meditation and mindfulness meditation are\ncomplementary, going hand in hand enhancing the positive effects of both\npractices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inner Transformation\nand Self Understanding<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bhavana or Buddhist meditation practices, involve inner transformation\nleading to calm and peacefulness and self understanding at the deeper level, or\ncomplete awareness and understanding of one\u2019s inner self\u201d, and realization of\nthe true nature of what one conventionally understands as oneself or\nself\u201d. By unlocking the innermost mystery of who you are, you are free to\ncommune with the ineffable mystery penetrating all existence. Buddhist\nmeditation practices help one to develop a state of consciousness that leads to\nself understanding and a state of awakening to realities of life, and\neventually to the ultimate meaning of life. <\/a>Inner discipline involves combating or\nresisting negative states of mind such as anger, hatred, greed, and jealousy,\nand the cultivation of positive states of mind such as compassion, kindness,\ntolerance and caring. These are basic ethical values without which human\nexistence becomes hard and meaningless. Inner discipline is the basis of a\nwholesome life. It is the fundamental method of achieving health and happiness.\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is through\n\u2018bhavana\u2019 practices that one develops peace and tranquillity of mind. With\npeace, comes the end to fears and expectations, anxiety and stress, and the\nability to see yourself as you truly are, or in other words, a deeper\nunderstanding of the \u2018self\u2019. Using\nself-directed neuroplasticity through meditation, we can return our brains to\ntheir natural states of joyful peace, opening the way to our own path of\nawakening. We spend a lot of time and effort to improve the\nexternal conditions of our lives, but in the end it is always our mind that\ncreates our experience of the world and translates this experience into either\nour well-being or suffering. Training our mind is important if we want to\ndevelop emotional balance, inner peace and wisdom that would lead to\nwell-being. We have within ourselves the potential to develop these qualities\nusing the mind-training bhavana or meditation practices. If we want to observe\nthe subtlest mechanisms of our mental functioning and have an effect on them,\nwe must refine our powers of looking inward. In order to do that, our attention\nhas to be sharpened so that it becomes stable and clear. We will then be able\nto observe how the mind functions and perceives the world. Buddhist Meditation practices,\nespecially samatha\u201d and vipassana\u201d,  help\nus to unmask the causes of our stress, discontentment and suffering and to\ndispel our mental confusion and turbulence. It helps us to develop our own\nunderstanding of ourselves that comes from a clear view of reality.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane Genuine compassion is based on the rationale that all human beings have an innate desire to overcome suffering and be happy. As an integral part of the Buddhist spiritual path, compassion is a state of mind that is non-violent, non-harming and non-aggressive. It is a mental attitude based on the wish for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-daya-hewapathirane"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100446\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}