Buddhist Teachings on Compassion

There are three aspects to Buddhist teachings:

Compassion
Wisdom
Skillful means (mind technology - the techniques for cultivating wisdom and compassion).

This website is concerned primarily with science and philosophy, and defending the Dharma against the materialism currently prevalent amongst many scientifically educated people. In doing so it risks giving an unbalanced view of Buddhist beliefs and practice, making them seem rather arid and intellectual.

According to the New Kadampa Tradition, Buddhist beliefs are of little use if just held intellectually, they also need to be 'realised' intuitively and then mixed with the root mind. The main motivation of Buddhist training is to develop deep compassion for all sentient beings, this is known as bodhicitta.

The eminent Tibetan scholar Geshe Kelsang Gyatso states in Universal Compassion [1] that compassion is the root of a Buddha because all Buddhas arise fom the mind of compassion, it is the root of Dharma because Buddhas give Dharma teachings out of compassion for others, and it is the root of the Sangha (the community of Buddhist practitioners) because it is impossible to become Sangha without practising compassion. Universal Compassion is a translation and commentary on Geshe Chekhawa's Training the mind in Seven Points. It is probably the clearest and most beautiful explanation in the English language of Mahayana teachings and meditational practices on compassion.

Buddhist teachings on compassion are extremely practical. Their immediate purpose is to lessen the stress on ourselves and those around us by making us more peaceful, understanding and patient. Ultimately, they reduce the negative imprints in our root mind that form the causes of uncontrolled rebirth and the obstacles to liberation. Anyone first developing an interest in the Dharma through philosophical or scientific debate needs to gain some familiarity with the complementary teachings and practices of compassion, in order to form a balanced view of the Dharma as a complete worldview.

Cherishing others
'.....Cherishing others is not so difficult - all we need to do is to understand why we should cherish others and then make a firm decision to do so. Through meditating on this decision we shall develop a deep and powerful feeling of cherishing for all beings. We then carry this special feeling into our daily life....'

REF

[1] Universal Compassion, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, publ London:Tharpa, 1993 (2nd edn)
ISBN 0 948006 24 2

Arguments against Buddhism
In order to understand the strengths of a philosophy one should attempt to refute it.

Christian versus Buddhist worldviews

RATIONAL BUDDHISM
If we regard Buddhism as a combination of a philosophy, psychology and religion, then how much mileage can we get from the first two aspects before we have to start invoking religious faith?