Joan Halifax: Compassion and the true meaning of empathy

Prevoditelj: Kristina Gottwald Recezent: Nenad Maljković

I want to address the issue of compassion.

Želim razmotriti temu suosjećanja.

Compassion has many faces.

Suosjećanje ima mnogo lica.

Some of them are fierce; some of them are wrathful;

Neka od njih su snažna, neka su gnjevna,

some of them are tender; some of them are wise.

neka su nježna, neka su mudra.

A line that the Dalai Lama once said,

Dalaj Lama je jednom rekao:

he said, "Love and compassion are necessities.

“Ljubav i suosjećanje su potreba.

They are not luxuries.

To nije luksuz.

Without them,

Bez njih

humanity cannot survive."

čovječanstvo ne može preživjeti."

And I would suggest,

Ja bih dodala,

it is not only humanity that won't survive,

ne samo čovječanstvo,

but it is all species on the planet,

već sva bića na planetu,

as we've heard today.

kao što smo danas čuli.

It is the big cats,

I velike mačke,

and it's the plankton.

i planktoni.

Two weeks ago, I was in Bangalore in India.

Prije dva tjedna bila sam u Bangaloru, u Indiji.

I was so privileged

Bila sam počašćena

to be able to teach in a hospice

podučavati u hospiciju

on the outskirts of Bangalore.

na periferiji grada.

And early in the morning,

Rano ujutro,

I went into the ward.

otišla sam na odjel.

In that hospice,

U tom je hospiciju

there were 31 men and women

bio 31 muškarac i žena

who were actively dying.

u procesu umiranja.

And I walked up to the bedside

Prišla sam krevetu

of an old woman

jedne starice

who was breathing very rapidly, fragile,

koja je ubrzano disala, nemoćna,

obviously in the latter phase

očito u zadnjoj fazi

of active dying.

umiranja.

I looked into her face.

Pogledala sam je u lice.

I looked into the face

Pogledala sam i u lice

of her son sitting next to her,

njezinog sina koji je sjedio kraj nje

and his face was just riven

i njegovo lice je bilo prekriveno

with grief and confusion.

tugom i pomutnjom.

And I remembered

Sjetila sam se

a line from the Mahabharata,

ulomka iz Mahabharate,

the great Indian epic:

poznatog Indijskog epa:

"What is the most wondrous thing in the world, Yudhisthira?"

"Koje je najveće čudo na svijetu, Yudhisthira?"

And Yudhisthira replied,

Yudhisthira odgovori,

"The most wondrous thing in the world

"Najveće čudo na svijetu

is that all around us

jest da posvuda oko nas

people can be dying

ljudi umiru,

and we don't realize

a mi ne shvaćamo

it can happen to us."

da se to može i nama dogoditi."

I looked up.

Pogledala sam okolo.

Tending those 31 dying people

O tih 30-ak umirućih

were young women

brinule su mlade žene

from villages around Bangalore.

iz sela oko Bangalora.

I looked into the face of one of these women,

Pogledala sam u lice jedne od tih žena

and I saw in her face

i na njenom licu vidjela

the strength that arises

snagu koja se javlja

when natural compassion is really present.

kada je prirodno suosjećanje stvarno prisutno.

I watched her hands

Gledala sam joj ruke

as she bathed an old man.

dok je kupala jednog starca.

My gaze went to another young woman

Pogled mi je prešao na drugu mladu ženu

as she wiped the face

ženu koja je brisala lice

of another dying person.

još jedne umiruće osobe.

And it reminded me

To me podsjetilo

of something that I had just been present for.

na nešto što sam upravo doživjela.

Every year or so,

Skoro svake godine

I have the privilege of taking clinicians

imam čast voditi kliničare

into the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau.

na Himalaje i na Tibet.

And we run clinics

Mi vodimo klinike

in these very remote regions

u tim najzabačenijim regijama

where there's no medical care whatsoever.

gdje nema nikakve medicinske njege.

And on the first day at Simikot in Humla,

Prvog dana u Simikotu u Humli,

far west of Nepal,

na krajnjem zapadu Nepala,

the most impoverished region of Nepal,

najsiromašnijoj regiji Nepala,

an old man came in

došao je starac

clutching a bundle of rags.

čvrsto držeći svežanj krpa.

And he walked in, and somebody said something to him,

Dok je ulazio, a netko mu je nešto govorio,

we realized he was deaf,

shvatili smo da je gluh,

and we looked into the rags,

pa smo pogledali u krpe

and there was this pair of eyes.

i u njima ugledali nečije oči.

The rags were unwrapped

Odmotali smo krpe

from a little girl

u kojima je bila djevojčica

whose body was massively burned.

s teškim opeklinama.

Again,

Opet,

the eyes and hands

oči i ruke

of Avalokiteshvara.

Avalokiteshvare.

It was the young women, the health aids,

Vidjela sam ih kod mlade pomoćnice

who cleaned the wounds of this baby

koja je djetetu očistila rane

and dressed the wounds.

i premotala ih.

I know those hands and eyes;

Poznate su mi te ruke i oči,

they touched me as well.

dodirivale su i mene.

They touched me at that time.

Dodirnule su me tada.

They have touched me throughout my 68 years.

Dodirivale su me svih mojih 68 godina.

They touched me when I was four

Dodirivale su me kad sam s četiri godine

and I lost my eyesight

izgubila vid

and was partially paralyzed.

i bila djelomično paralizirana.

And my family brought in

Moja obitelj je dovela

a woman whose mother had been a slave

ženu čija je majka bila robinja

to take care of me.

kako bi se brinula o meni.

And that woman

Ta žena

did not have sentimental compassion.

nije imala sentimentalno suosjećanje.

She had phenomenal strength.

Imala je izvanrednu snagu.

And it was really her strength, I believe,

I vjerujem da je ta njena snaga

that became the kind of mudra and imprimatur

postala nekom vrstom vodiča

that has been a guiding light in my life.

koji mi pokazuje životni put.

So we can ask:

Možemo se zapitati:

What is compassion comprised of?

od čega se sastoji suosjećanje?

And there are various facets.

Postoje razni aspekti.

And there's referential and non-referential compassion.

I postoji referentno i nereferentno suosjećanje.

But first, compassion is comprised

Prvenstveno, temelj suosjećanja

of that capacity

jest sposobnost

to see clearly

jasnog sagledavanja

into the nature of suffering.

prirode patnje.

It is that ability

To je sposobnost

to really stand strong

zadržavanja vlastite snage

and to recognize also

uz priznavanje

that I'm not separate from this suffering.

da nismo odvojeni od patnje.

But that is not enough,

Ali to nije dovoljno,

because compassion,

jer suosjećanje,

which activates the motor cortex,

koje aktivira motorički korteks,

means that we aspire,

znači da mi težimo,

we actually aspire to transform suffering.

mi zapravo težimo transformirati patnju.

And if we're so blessed,

Ako smo na taj način blagoslovljeni,

we engage in activities

mi sudjelujemo u aktivnostima

that transform suffering.

koje transformiraju patnju.

But compassion has another component,

No suosjećanje ima još jednu komponentu

and that component is really essential.

koja je esencijalna.

That component

Ta komponenta

is that we cannot be attached to outcome.

jest da se ne smijemo vezati uz ishod.

Now I worked with dying people

Radim sa ljudima koji umiru

for over 40 years.

već 40 godina.

I had the privilege of working on death row

Imala sam priliku šest godina raditi

in a maximum security [prison] for six years.

sa zatvorenicima osuđenima na smrt u strogo čuvanom zatvoru.

And I realized so clearly

Posalo mi je tako jasno

in bringing my own life experience,

povezujući moja životna iskustva

from working with dying people

u rada s umirućima

and training caregivers,

i obučavanju onih koji se brinu o njima,

that any attachment to outcome

da bi bilo kakva vezanost za ishod

would distort deeply

teško narušila moju sposobnost

my own capacity to be fully present

da budem potpuno prisutna

to the whole catastrophe.

tijekom cijele katastrofe.

And when I worked in the prison system,

Kad sam radila u zatvorskom sistemu,

it was so clear to me, this:

bilo mi je sasvim jasno jedno:

that many of us

da mnogi od nas

in this room,

u ovoj prostoriji,

and almost all of the men that I worked with on death row,

i skoro svi ljudi s kojima sam radila u zatvoru,

the seeds of their own compassion had never been watered.

nisu nikada upoznali ni njegovali pravo suosjećanje.

That compassion is actually

Ono je zapravo

an inherent human quality.

osobina koja je ljudima urođena.

It is there within every human being.

Ono je u svakome od nas.

But the conditions

Ali uvjeti nužni

for compassion to be activated,

da se suosjećanje aktivira,

to be aroused,

da se probudi,

are particular conditions.

sasvim su određeni uvjeti.

I had that condition, to a certain extent,

Imala sam takve uvjete, u nekoj mjeri,

from my own childhood illness.

tijekom svoje bolesti u djetinjstvu.

Eve Ensler, whom you'll hear later,

Eve Ensler, koju ćete malo kasnije čuti,

has had that condition activated

u sebi je nevjerojatno

amazingly in her

aktivirala te uvjete

through the various waters of suffering

kroz razne oblike patnje

that she has been through.

koje je doživjela.

And what is fascinating

Ono što je fascinantno

is that compassion has enemies,

jest da suosjećanje ima neprijatelje,

and those enemies are things like pity,

a to su sažaljenje,

moral outrage,

moralno osuđivanje,

fear.

strah.

And you know, we have a society, a world,

Znate, mi živimo u društvu, u svijetu

that is paralyzed by fear.

koji je paraliziran strahom.

And in that paralysis, of course,

I naravno da je u toj paralizi

our capacity for compassion

naša sposobnost za suosjećanje

is also paralyzed.

također paralizirana.

The very word terror

Sama riječ teror

is global.

je globalna.

The very feeling of terror is global.

Sami osjećaj terora je globalan.

So our work, in a certain way,

Tako da je naš posao, na određeni način,

is to address this imago,

obraćanje toj predodžbi,

this kind of archetype

tom svojevrsnom arhetipu

that has pervaded the psyche

koji je protkao psihu

of our entire globe.

cijeloga svijeta.

Now we know from neuroscience

Iz neuroznanstvenih podataka

that compassion has

znamo sa suosjećanje ima

some very extraordinary qualities.

neke veoma izvanredne kvalitete.

For example:

Na primjer:

A person who is cultivating compassion,

osoba koja kultivira suosjećanje,

when they are in the presence of suffering,

kada je u prisutnosti patnje,

they feel that suffering a lot more

osjeća tu patnju puno jače

than many other people do.

nego ostali.

However,

Međutim,

they return to baseline a lot sooner.

ta se osoba brže vrati u početno stanje.

This is called resilience.

To nazivamo otpornost.

Many of us think that compassion drains us,

Mnogi su uvjereni da nas suosjećanje iscrpljuje,

but I promise you

ali, obećajem vam,

it is something that truly enlivens us.

ono nas istinski oživljava.

Another thing about compassion

Još jedna stvar u vezi suosjećanja

is that it really enhances what's called neural integration.

je da pojačava nešto što nazivamo neuronskom integracijom.

It hooks up all parts of the brain.

Ono povezuje sve dijelove mozga.

Another, which has been discovered

Nadalje, nešto što su otkrili

by various researchers

razni znanstvenici

at Emory and at Davis and so on,

na sveučilištima Emory, Davisu, itd.

is that compassion enhances our immune system.

jest da suosjećanje pojačava naš imunosni sustav.

Hey,

Hej,

we live in a very noxious world.

živimo u nezdravom svijetu.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Most of us are shrinking

Većina nas se povlači

in the face of psycho-social and physical poisons,

pred psihosocijalnim i fizičkim otrovima,

of the toxins of our world.

toksinima našeg svijeta.

But compassion, the generation of compassion,

Ali suosjećanje, stvaranje suosjećanja,

actually mobilizes

zapravo aktivira

our immunity.

naš imunitet.

You know, if compassion is so good for us,

Ako je suosjećanje tako dobro za nas,

I have a question.

imam jedno pitanje.

Why don't we train our children

Zašto ne učimo našu djecu

in compassion?

suosjećanju?

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

If compassion is so good for us,

Ako je suosjećanje tako dobro za nas,

why don't we train our health care providers in compassion

zašto ne podučavamo bolničare suosjećanju

so that they can do what they're supposed to do,

kako bi mogli raditi ono što bi trebali raditi,

which is to really transform suffering?

a to je potpuno izmijeniti patnju?

And if compassion is so good for us,

I ako je suosjećanje tako dobro za nas,

why don't we vote on compassion?

zašto ne glasamo suosjećanjem?

Why don't we vote for people in our government

Zašto ne glasamo za ljude u našoj vladi

based on compassion,

u skladu s našim suosjećanjem?

so that we can have

Kako bismo mogli imati

a more caring world?

svijet s više skrbi.

In Buddhism,

U buddhizmu imamo izreku:

we say, "it takes a strong back and a soft front."

"treba biti čvrst straga i mekan sprijeda."

It takes tremendous strength of the back

Potrebna je imati čvrstu kralježnicu

to uphold yourself in the midst of conditions.

kako bismo biti uspravni u svim okolnostima.

And that is the mental quality of equanimity.

To je mentalna kvaliteta staloženosti.

But it also takes a soft front --

Ali je također potrebno biti mekan sprijeda --

the capacity to really be open to the world as it is,

imati sposobnost otvaranja svijetu kakav zapravo jest,

to have an undefended heart.

imati otvoreno srce.

And the archetype of this in Buddhism

Ovaj arhetip u buddhizmu

is Avalokiteshvara, Kuan-Yin.

je Avalokiteshvara, Kuan-Yin.

It's a female archetype:

To je ženski arhetip:

she who perceives

ona koja vidi

the cries of suffering in the world.

vapaje patnje u svijetu.

She stands with 10,000 arms,

Ona stoji s 10.000 ruku,

and in every hand,

i u svakoj ruci

there is an instrument of liberation,

drži oruđe oslobođenja,

and in the palm of every hand, there are eyes,

a na svakom dlanu je oko,

and these are the eyes of wisdom.

to su oči mudrosti.

I say that, for thousands of years,

Tisućama godina

women have lived,

žene su živjele,

exemplified, met in intimacy,

utjelovljivale u svojim životima

the archetype of Avalokitesvara,

arhetip Avalokiteshvare,

of Kuan-Yin,

Kuan-Yin,

she who perceives

one koja vidi

the cries of suffering in the world.

vapaje patnje u svijetu.

Women have manifested for thousands of years

Tisućama godina žene su iskazivale

the strength arising from compassion

snagu koja izvire iz suosjećanja

in an unfiltered, unmediated way

na čist i neposredan način,

in perceiving suffering

kroz viđenje patnje

as it is.

onakve kakva jest.

They have infused societies with kindness,

Obogatile su društvo dobrotom

and we have really felt that

i mi smo to stvarno osjetili

as woman after woman

dok su žene, jedna za drugom,

has stood on this stage

stajale na ovoj pozornici

in the past day and a half.

tijekom ova dva dana.

And they have actualized compassion

One su utjelovljivale suosjećanje

through direct action.

kroz izravnu akciju.

Jody Williams called it:

Jody Williams je rekla:

It's good to meditate.

dobro je meditirati.

I'm sorry, you've got to do a little bit of that, Jody.

Žao mi je, Jody, moraš to makar malo.

Step back, give your mother a break, okay.

Daj svojoj majci priliku, u redu.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

But the other side of the equation

Ali druga strana jednadžbe

is you've got to come out of your cave.

jest da moramo izaći iz svojih špilja.

You have to come into the world

Moramo izaći u svijet

like Asanga did,

kao što je Asanga izašao,

who was looking to realize Maitreya Buddha

nakon potrage za realizacijom Buddhe Maitreye

after 12 years sitting in the cave.

tijekom 12 godina sjedenja u špilji.

He said, "I'm out of here."

Rekao je: "Izlazim."

He's going down the path.

On ide putem.

He sees something in the path.

Ugleda nešto na putu.

He looks, it's a dog, he drops to his knees.

Pogleda ga, to je pas, klekne pokraj njega.

He sees that the dog has this big wound on its leg.

Vidi da pas ima veliku ranu na nozi.

The wound is just filled with maggots.

Prepuna je larvi.

He puts out his tongue

Isplazi jezik

in order to remove the maggots,

kako bi uklonio larve,

so as not to harm them.

bez da ih ozlijedi.

And at that moment,

U tom trenutku,

the dog transformed

pas se pretvorio

into the Buddha of love and kindness.

u Buddhu ljubavi i dobrote.

I believe

Vjerujem

that women and girls today

da se žene i djevojke danas

have to partner in a powerful way with men --

trebaju na jedan snažan način povezati s muškarcima --

with their fathers,

sa svojima očevima,

with their sons, with their brothers,

sa svojim sinovima, sa svojom braćom,

with the plumbers, the road builders,

s vodoinstalaterima, s radnicima na cesti,

the caregivers, the doctors, the lawyers,

s bolničarima, doktorima, odvjetnicima,

with our president,

s našim predsjednikom,

and with all beings.

i sa svim bićima.

The women in this room

Žene u ovoj sobi

are lotuses in a sea of fire.

su lotusi u moru vatre.

May we actualize that capacity

Neka utjelovimo tu sposobnost

for women everywhere.

za žene posvuda.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)