Mercy occupies an important place in the hearts of people, in human culture, religion, morality, society, and in the belief system. On the one hand, it is obvious to everyone how mercy manifests itself and what it means, but to really bring it to life and understand its full depth is not at all easy. This quality gives a certain distinction between good and evil, defines a person and what under the auspices of which all life will pass. The presence or absence of mercy in life will determine whether a person is capable of truly loving or not, because love is very rarely selective. The ability to love either exists or it doesn’t.
And if you greet only your brothers, what special thing are you doing? Don't the pagans do the same?
Matthew 5:47
Mercy - what is it? How is mercy defined?
Mercy is, first of all, a human quality . Qualities are manifested in activities, relationships with others, in thoughts, actions, speeches and lifestyle. Mercy manifests itself most strongly in relation to other living beings; it is by how we treat others that we are able to determine whether we are endowed with mercy or not.
Mercy is an equally benevolent attitude towards all living beings, respect and tolerance arising from the awareness of the identity between oneself and other living beings.
Thus, the ability to be merciful stems from the ability to empathize with all living beings. To sympathize means to be aware of what another is experiencing, in a way that would clearly make us understand what can make life easier and bring joy, and what can bring suffering . Mercy is manifested in the refusal of such actions that would bring suffering to other living beings and, if possible, the commission of such acts that would make their existence easier.
Charity is clearly described as a virtue, and is sometimes described as a universal human duty . After all, the ability to truly sympathize and empathize with others in both happiness and sorrow is inherent only in man. If a person is deprived of this quality, this means that his life is subject to other, non-human motives. And what we usually mean by this is that selfish desires for pleasure lead to causing suffering to others. We all understand that human society, for the most part, is built on the fact that some suffer while others enjoy. The labor or suffering of one is the pleasure of another. And vice versa. Modern society is built on this.
Based on this, the fruits of a lack of mercy are increased suffering, disunity, and, as a consequence, the need to exploit others in order to maintain one’s own life or achieve a better standard of living. All this goes in a circle and the spiral of suffering due to the lack of mercy will only intensify until humanity abandons the idea of exploiting someone else's life as a source of its own pleasure.
As a universal human duty , mercy indicates that a person is able to understand that it is his actions that determine whether someone will suffer or be happy. Having abandoned selfish motives in his activities, such a person is able to bring happiness to living beings, both by refusing to cause harm by action, speech, deeds or thoughts, and by joyfully doing what helps improve their lives.
One parable tells that hell and heaven differ only in that in hell everyone tries to eat themselves, but in heaven everyone is happy to feed the other. The point is that hell is a place of suffering, since it embodies the extremely selfish landscape of the consequences of human life, in which the motive of one’s own pleasures turned out to be higher than the lives of others. All sins, in essence, come down to the fact that someone else suffers, and the sinner himself enjoys. Thus, lust leads to the destruction of families, rape and abandoned children. Greed leads to widespread poverty, theft and paranoia. And so on. Such selfish actions, selfish ways of life lead to hell even during life. And if virtue is established in a person’s heart, then, due to the absence of egoism, he is not able to experience suffering acutely and deeply, although it does occur. But a life in which virtue is established is purified by the renunciation of pleasures, the price of which is the suffering of others. It brings happiness that comes from within.
In general, the consequences of merciful actions are much closer to happiness and joy than the consequences of cruel and inhumane actions. It becomes self-evident that a normal, healthy person is not able to see in the suffering of another a source of his own happiness. But at the same time, happiness arises by itself in a situation where someone helped someone.
Mercy is a virtue that manifests itself in a benevolent attitude towards every living being. The manifestation of mercy consists in a benevolent attitude towards every living being, through which it becomes possible to refuse to cause suffering and anxiety, and also to bring joy and happiness.
It is important to understand that mercy is shown to everyone , not only to loved ones or to individuals. And it also manifests itself constantly , and not just at any particular period of mood or time of day. Mercy is based on the understanding that we all experience pain, suffering, disappointment, joy, happiness, and so on. We are identical in this because we have the same nature. At the core of every living being is a soul and to think that your soul is somehow different from the soul of an animal or a saint means that you are looking only at the body.
One day the sage Ashtavakra Muni, whose body is curved in eight places, went to King Janaki, because he heard that the wisest people, those who had found their Path, had gathered at his court. He set out on his journey despite the pain and difficulties. Ashtavakra walked for a whole month the distance that people cover in two days. When he appeared in the brilliant throne room where the sages and Janaki himself were sitting, everyone looked at him and began to laugh. Everyone began to laugh at him, and at first Ashtavakra Muni stood for several seconds, not understanding anything, and then he himself began to laugh louder than everyone else. The king was surprised and asked: “Dear sir, why are you laughing?” Ashtavakra replied: “Actually, I don’t laugh, I cry.” I came here because I was told that wise men had gathered here. And there is not a single sage here! - How so? - Janaki was surprised. - These are the wisest people sitting here! - No, I see only shoemakers here. - What shoemakers?! Don't you see - these are the greatest brahmanas, the sages have gathered here! - There is not a single one here, neither a sage nor a Brahman - only shoemakers! They only see the body. They saw my skin and started laughing. “And I thought there were sages here,” and Ashtavakra began to cry. — The sages are those who see the soul, who have learned to look deep into the skin or some other external shells.
From mercy come the laws of morality, which arose in different cultures, but sounded approximately the same: “do as you want them to do to you.” This is the sound of the golden moral rule, which is reflected in many philosophical and religious teachings.
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Sample 5
Mercy, compassion, kindness... Wonderful words, aren't they?
Indeed, who among us would not want to live among people whose hearts radiate these irreplaceable moral qualities!
What is mercy? I have thought about this question more than once and come to certain conclusions. In my opinion, mercy is the ability to support a person who is faced with difficult life circumstances. This is the willingness to sacrifice something important for the convenience and benefit of another person.
The meaning of the term “mercy” explains the very composition of the word, which is based on the phrase “sweet heart”. A person with such a heart will never pass by someone else’s grief, because for him there is no such thing as someone else’s misfortune.
The problem of mercy has always been the focus of literature. Such eminent writers as Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Chekhov turned to her... A. I. Kuprin also paid great attention to her. In his wonderful story "The Wonderful Doctor" he shows the miraculous power of mercy.
It is impossible to read the pages describing the mental state of the head of the family without pain. Having lost his job, Mertsalov loses the meaning of life. There are hungry children at home, one of whom is very sick. The spouses do not have money for treatment. Job searches are not yielding any results. There is nowhere to wait for help. Unable to change anything, Mertsalov decides to commit suicide.
A chance meeting with a doctor became a salvation from death for a man and saved his family from hunger and poverty. The doctor turned out to be a very sympathetic, kind and wise person. Having learned about the difficult situation in which the family of his new acquaintance is, Pirogov goes with the head of the family to examine the sick child. His help was not limited to writing a prescription. Along with the prescription, the doctor puts money for both the medicine and necessary expenses.
Reading about such people, you involuntarily think: “A world without good is like a treasury without silver.”
Can human society survive without compassion and responsiveness? The answer is obvious. Mercy is something without which we cannot imagine our lives. It is the willingness to help, the ability to sympathize that makes us human. I think that without mercy the world will become poorer.
How is mercy different from compassion?
Compassion and mercy are very similar to each other, but it cannot be said that they are so similar that following one principle you can safely ignore the other. The basis of mercy is the perception of another living being who is equally identical to oneself, having the same spiritual basis. The basis of compassion is the vision of suffering as evil, the release of which is good.
The basis of compassion is the renunciation of actions that bring suffering or deliverance from suffering.
The basis of mercy is an attitude towards another that would make the other person’s life better, happier.
Compassion is applied to those who are currently suffering or potentially will suffer . However, compassion cannot be applied to a happy person. Such an application of compassion will take the form of a fanatical attempt to do good, which in itself will bring trouble. Mercy is shown to everyone at all times - both to those who are happy and healthy and to those who suffer.
The combination of mercy and compassion leads to actions and attitudes towards others that self-evidently relieve suffering for all who come under the influence of these qualities. Compassion devoid of mercy will bring “good” to others, without realizing whether it will help or not, because it is important to simply solve some problem, although it may get worse. Mercy without compassion will show concern for the sufferer, but there may be no concrete action. Of course, most often, someone who sincerely wants to help is driven by both compassion and mercy, but the main difference between mercy and compassion is that compassion is shown only in relation to those who suffer or those who could potentially suffer, and mercy is shown in relation to everyone and always. But, again, these qualities are similar and if you have one, it becomes easier to follow the other rule.
An example of the difference between compassion and mercy can be the attitude of a kshatriya warrior and a brahmana sage towards a criminal. The kshatriya will be compassionate towards those to whom the criminal has brought suffering and will try to save potential victims from him. Thus, compassion will manifest itself in killing the source of suffering. The very word kshatriya, which in Vedic culture denotes a warrior, means “deliverance from troubles.” The trouble is the criminal - he is not a person, he is a source of suffering, which means for the sake of justice he must be punished. The attitude of a brahmana is merciful, he will see in the criminal not a murderer, but a person who is deceived and suffering, which means he will try to guide him on the right path. To destroy not the person himself, but the true source of troubles is a sin in him.
From history we know many examples when in this way sinful and fallen people became righteous and atoned for their misdeeds. It is enough to remember who was the first to enter heaven after the crucifixion of Jesus. It was a repentant bandit.
But one should not be directly radical in the clear ideological division between compassion and mercy. It is only important to understand the difference and strive for both virtues. Compassion is manifested in action that will relieve suffering, and mercy is manifested in attitude that will prevent it. This is the difference between mercy and compassion.
Why is justice needed?
Justice is necessary to avoid chaos in the world. Every person should receive what he has achieved and what he deserves. People who live with justice know that they need to fight and go towards their goals in life, and not wait for a happy turn of fate until what they want comes to them. You should treat everyone around you fairly. Then the world will respond in kind - these are the natural laws of life. Justice presupposes honesty: one should not deceive or lie to people. It is worth remembering that, first of all, at these moments you are lying to yourself. Be honest with yourself first, and then with others.
Why is mercy important to a reasonable person?
For a wise person who clearly distinguishes between the eternal and the mortal, it is important to understand that mercy is a prerequisite for peace of mind, since a merciful person relieves himself of the huge burden of thinking about who deserves good and who deserves evil, who is guilty and who is right. Moreover, a benevolent attitude in itself not only helps to prevent conflicts, quarrels, strife, and so on, but also allows you to find friends and well-wishers, who in the absence of mercy could be enemies or simply nobody.
But even the very attitude of treating everyone as living beings with whom we are on the same level makes a person freer and happier. It does not matter whether it is a dog, a cow, a criminal, an ordinary person, a hero or a sage - all are equal on the basis that all are the eternal soul at their core. And such an attitude not only brings peace and tranquility, but also allows you to more clearly see both the spiritual nature of other beings and your own soul. And perceiving oneself from the point of view of the soul is one of the main achievements on the spiritual path .
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The invisible world of our soul
So how can we better understand the meaning of the word mercy? Well, to do this you need to look inside yourself. Try to consider that distant, unknown world in which our feelings live. After all, it is there that mercy is born and matures.
But it cannot exist alone for long. Without love for others and kindness in the heart, mercy quickly fades away. Therefore, only those who have cultivated these virtues can be called merciful. Awareness of this fact will help to better understand the nature of the concept we are considering, so to speak, to see its origins.
How does a merciful person become happy?
So, mercy relieves suffering to a greater extent of its owner, and not of the one to whom mercy is shown. When we imagine a merciful person, we naturally associate with a happy, kind and bright person who is kind not because he needs something, but because he is very developed, mature, and open. Saints are associated primarily with mercy, and it is from their mercy that their glory stems. The one who gives voluntarily cannot be inferior, and the one who lives in accordance with self-giving, self-sacrifice is self-evidently an authority for everyone.
True mercy always evokes respect and makes it possible to truly change the lives of other people, making them happier and kinder with one worthy attitude. And this is important both for those who want to help people, relieve them of suffering and bring them closer to happiness, and for those who want to show by their own example how they can change their lives. Without a compassionate attitude, attempts to change others will be perceived as nagging, dissatisfaction, stubborn rejection, and people themselves succumb to mercy.
Adviсe
- Smile and appreciate everything around you.
- Offer to help younger siblings with their homework, comfort them when they are sad, or play with them when they are bored. They will appreciate it and will maintain good relations with you.
- Respect your friends. Your friends make you feel uplifted. Go out of your way to thank them or get together more often to get closer to them.
- If it's your parents' birthday, prepare a gift and make a special card to show how much you care about them and that you took the time to put aside your own affairs and celebrate their holiday.
How to develop mercy and show it?
The question of developing mercy is a question of naturally becoming a mature, intelligent, wise and self-satisfied person. As long as we depend on the opinions of other people or consider people as a source of pleasure or pain, we are not able to be merciful due to the strong manifestation of egoism, which puts our own pleasure first. Trying to become merciful before gaining intelligence, maturity and self-sufficiency will result in fickleness, self-interest and disappointment. Frustration is especially common; many people who do not have a solid foundation for acquiring such high virtues soon begin to treat other people with disdain because they: “do not show due gratitude/respect.” But the very essence of mercy is that a benevolent attitude has neither expectations nor grounds. A compassionate attitude is there because it is such a quality, and not because in this way one can become great, respected or gain friends - all this can be a consequence, but should not become a cause.
Mercy arises naturally in the process of following the spiritual path, which consists of comprehending one's spiritual nature and searching for the Absolute Truth. Having seen oneself and other living beings as eternal souls, it becomes self-evident that no other attitude towards others other than a merciful one has any reasonable justification. Neither pleasures, nor false ego, nor selfishness and so on, for a person who has seen the spiritual nature, are no longer a format for perceiving others. In this case, mercy becomes an absolutely natural and characteristic state, which becomes simply inseparable from the personality. And since mercy is shown towards everyone and always, it becomes obvious that it is impossible to imitate it inside, since the mind will change moods, desires, aspirations, and all this will lead to a change in guidelines. Why be merciful when you really, really want something. Such an internal conflict always ends with the fact that an attempt to be sincerely merciful, kind, and compassionate is met either by a lack of strength or by a counter negative reaction. But the very fact of refusal of mercy suggests that it really did not exist.
In this case, it is much easier to be compassionate, because compassion is applied at a certain time, in relation to a certain living being and whenever possible. If we cannot help, and our actions can only harm, then it is better not to make things worse. Do not fill the fire with oil. As has already been said, compassion and mercy are similar and having compassion will help you gain at least an understanding of mercy from within. Therefore, those who want to become merciful must try to be compassionate. But the most direct path remains the spiritual path. Charity must come from spiritual awareness, since at the mental level it is impossible to maintain or imitate such an attitude constantly. At the mental level, it will be impermanent or end in some negative event. But one should not strive for such inconstancy.
What is it for
“Whoever takes it fills his palms. He who gives fills the heart." Lao Tzu.
What will happen to humanity if each of us begins to think only about ourselves ? How long will a civilization consisting of complete egoists and egocentrists survive? In pursuit of profit, personal interests and pleasure, people will begin to become more and more bitter, losing all moral values and human appearance.
To survive, we will have to start destroying each other by starting wars. The consequences are clear: in the best case, we will return, with a greatly reduced composition, to barbaric times, where human life is not worth a penny. At worst, people will simply kill each other and disappear from the face of the earth. So-so promising, isn’t it?
Selfishness gives rise to suffering, mercy is always joy. “Fill each other's hearts.”
One good deed makes at least two people happy: the one who did it and the one who received it. The latter, if he is not an egoist, will also want to be useful to someone and, in turn, will help the next one. This chain of goodness is perfectly illustrated in the film “Pay Another One,” where it was started by a little boy (I recommend watching it).
Mercy is the language of humanism
Mercy is a benevolent attitude that treats all living beings equally at any given time. This quality is spiritual in nature, as it comes from seeing both oneself and other people as souls, not bodies. Realizing that all living beings are equal in their essence, it becomes obvious that there is no reason to be prejudiced, intolerant, radical, fanatical or negative towards anyone. Mercy brings liberation from a large amount of suffering both to the most merciful person and to those towards whom such mercy was shown. The achievement of mercy is an important stage of the spiritual path, which indicates correct development, and the absence of such indicates either incorrect progress or its absence. You can achieve mercy by realizing yourself and all living beings as eternal souls. This is not easy to do, but as you know, happiness is achieved through hard work. Good luck.
"Roads of goodness"
After all the named and unnamed ordeals, the “Roads of Good” project was born in 2001. The organization was created with the support of government authorities - the Department of Social Protection of the Population of the Zheleznodorozhny District.
“Roads of Good” is an opportunity for a person to find like-minded people who yesterday also struggled with this choice and are now ready to help others not only with words, but also with good deeds.
Our organization is already 8 years old. During its existence, we have carried out more than three hundred charity projects and social events. We gained experience and watched. And we organized several major areas of work: we opened a School of Foster Parents, we help elderly people, disabled children, and we professionally train volunteers under the Social Project Manager program.
