The Dalai Lama's 'The Ethic Of Compassion'

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Student Professor English 1A 30 January 2012 Ethics and morality have different interpretations due to our cultures and believes. Some of these ethics and morals share a list of rules to follow in order to live how they suggest is appropriate. Others look for a spiritual enlightenment. On the other hand, there are the ones who believe morals and ethics are just to hold us from making our own decisions. “Moses and the Ten Commandments” offers a number of Commandments that people must follow to be accepted in the eyes of God. “The Ethic of Compassion,” by The Dalia Lama, talks about the compassion we should feel for those not close to us in order to reach happiness. Friedrich Nietzsche, in “Morality as Anti-Nature,” suggests that in order…show more content…
The Dalai Lama talks about “Compassion”. The way to understand compassion in this situation does not mean forgiveness or to forget what the murderer did and let him free. Here, compassion means to put aside the feelings we have for the one related to us and become impartial to listen to the reasons the murderer has to have killed this person. This impartiality would help us not to follow what The Torah suggests. The Torah suggests the death of a murderer. Killing a murderer does not bring any answers that make us understand what the reasons of the murderer were. Nietzsche says that we should follow our own instincts. In this case, it would be difficult to use his suggestion because neither the murderer, nor I would know if what we are doing is right or not. Even when Nietzsche suggest more freedom to make decisions, it is easier to follow the morals already created. This is why I am showing compassion in a way that it would help me to understand the reasons a murderer has to kill and to make the decision on how I would like him to spend the time in jail. Since compassion can be seen in two…show more content…
If someone decides to follow what The Torah suggests, death penalty would be the best option to follow. I don’t believe death would be the solution. A person might suggest that if a person killed someone, the murderer should be killed, as well because it is written on The Torah especially because the dead wasn’t “By act of God” (639); however, I would say that the death of the murderer would not give us the answer we might need to find peace for ourselves. This is why I would use “Compassion” to “share the characteristics of consciousness itself”(732). This seems to say that “Compassion” would help me to understand why the reasons of the murder to kill. I don’t have to accept these reasons, but it would give me understanding to make a reasonable decision on the murderer’s future. If I use the word compassion, people could believe that the feelings I have for the person killed are weak, they would not justify why I feel that compassion; however, the way I interpret the word is only to understand the reasons the murderer has to kill that person related to me. If I only use the feelings I have for the person close to me, I would be anticipating a decision that could be wrong. I need to have understanding of the reasons the murderer has to kill someone close to me. That would help me to decide to decide
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