Joan Halifax: Compassion and the true meaning of empathy

譯者: Joan Liu 審譯者: Ching-Yuan Chen

I want to address the issue of compassion.

我想要談談同情心

Compassion has many faces.

同情心有很多面相。

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

這些面相中有些是激烈的，有些是憤怒的，

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

有些是溫柔的，有些是有智慧的。

A line that the Dalai Lama once said,

達賴喇嘛曾說：

he said, "Love and compassion are necessities.

「愛與同情是必須的。

They are not luxuries.

他們不是奢侈品。

Without them,

沒有他們，

humanity cannot survive."

人類無法存活。」

And I would suggest,

而我認為

it is not only humanity that won't survive,

不只是人類不能存活，

but it is all species on the planet,

地球上的所有的物種，

as we've heard today.

都無法存活。

It is the big cats,

不論是大型貓科動物

and it's the plankton.

或是小浮游生物

Two weeks ago, I was in Bangalore in India.

我兩周前在印度的班家羅爾

I was so privileged

很榮幸能

to be able to teach in a hospice

在班家羅爾郊區的一所

on the outskirts of Bangalore.

安寧照護中心教學

And early in the morning,

我在清晨

I went into the ward.

進入安寧房

In that hospice,

在那安寧照護中心

there were 31 men and women

有31名男女

who were actively dying.

正在面臨死亡

And I walked up to the bedside

我走到一名年老女的女性

of an old woman

床邊

who was breathing very rapidly, fragile,

她的呼吸非常急促、虛弱

obviously in the latter phase

我看得出來

of active dying.

她的時間不多了

I looked into her face.

我看了她的臉。

I looked into the face

及她身旁

of her son sitting next to her,

兒子的臉

and his face was just riven

她兒子臉上

with grief and confusion.

滿是憂傷與迷惘

And I remembered

然後我想起

a line from the Mahabharata,

印度史詩摩訶婆羅多中

the great Indian epic:

的一段對話

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

「尤迪斯帝拉，世上什麼最奇妙?」

And Yudhisthira replied,

尤迪斯帝拉答道：

"The most wondrous thing in the world

「這世上最奇妙的是

is that all around us

我們知道周遭所有人

people can be dying

都可能死亡

and we don't realize

但我們卻沒有意識到

it can happen to us."

自己也可能死亡。」

I looked up.

我看了看

Tending those 31 dying people

照顧這些面臨死亡的31人是

were young women

來自班家羅爾村莊的

from villages around Bangalore.

年輕女士

I looked into the face of one of these women,

我看了這些女士的臉

and I saw in her face

我在她們臉上看到

the strength that arises

自然的同情心顯現時

when natural compassion is really present.

所顯露的能量

I watched her hands

當她在為老人洗澡時

as she bathed an old man.

的雙手

My gaze went to another young woman

我又看了另外一名女士的雙手

as she wiped the face

她正擦拭著

of another dying person.

即將死亡的人的臉

And it reminded me

這提醒了我

of something that I had just been present for.

一件我才剛遇到的事

Every year or so,

大約每隔一年

I have the privilege of taking clinicians

我都有榮幸帶領一些醫生

into the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau.

到喜馬拉雅和西藏台地

And we run clinics

然後我們在這些

in these very remote regions

沒有任何醫療機制的深山

where there's no medical care whatsoever.

進行診療

And on the first day at Simikot in Humla,

在尼泊爾的席米哥的前幾天

far west of Nepal,

在拿博遙遠的西邊

the most impoverished region of Nepal,

也就是拿博最落後的地方

an old man came in

有一名老人緊抓著一堆破布

clutching a bundle of rags.

走進來了診所

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

他進來後有人跟他說了話

we realized he was deaf,

但我們發現他是聾的

and we looked into the rags,

然後我們看了那些破布

and there was this pair of eyes.

我又看到了那滿是同情心的眼神

The rags were unwrapped

那堆破布是從

from a little girl

一為全身嚴重灼傷的女孩

whose body was massively burned.

身上取下來的

Again,

我又看見了

the eyes and hands

那屬於觀世音菩薩的

of Avalokiteshvara.

眼神和手

It was the young women, the health aids,

這是一位年輕的女醫護人員眼神和手

who cleaned the wounds of this baby

她清洗了這名嬰兒身上的傷口

and dressed the wounds.

並為傷口包紮

I know those hands and eyes;

我認識這雙手和眼睛

they touched me as well.

他們也感動過我

They touched me at that time.

不只在當時感動了我

They have touched me throughout my 68 years.

他們在過去的68年間不斷地感動著我

They touched me when I was four

他們在我四歲失去視力

and I lost my eyesight

且半身癱瘓的時候

and was partially paralyzed.

感動著我

And my family brought in

當時我的家人帶來一位女士

a woman whose mother had been a slave

她母親曾是奴隸，而她是來

to take care of me.

照顧我的

And that woman

那位女士

did not have sentimental compassion.

的同情心不是來自感傷

She had phenomenal strength.

她有非凡的力量

And it was really her strength, I believe,

而我相信她那強大的力量

that became the kind of mudra and imprimatur

成為一種啓發

that has been a guiding light in my life.

成為我生命中的明燈

So we can ask:

所以我們可以問：

What is compassion comprised of?

同情心是什麼組成的？

And there are various facets.

而那有非常多面向

And there's referential and non-referential compassion.

同情心有來自經驗及非經驗的

But first, compassion is comprised

但首先，同情心是由

of that capacity

能夠洞悉

to see clearly

受苦的意義

into the nature of suffering.

的能力而來

It is that ability

這個能力

to really stand strong

讓我們能堅強得

and to recognize also

瞭解到

that I'm not separate from this suffering.

我們夜身處這些苦難中

But that is not enough,

但光這些是不夠的

because compassion,

因為同情心

which activates the motor cortex,

會激發運動皮質區

means that we aspire,

表示我們會想去改變

we actually aspire to transform suffering.

我們真的會去改變這些苦難

And if we're so blessed,

然後如果我們是蒙神祝福的

we engage in activities

我們會身體力行

that transform suffering.

來化解苦難

But compassion has another component,

但同情心還有另一個要件

and that component is really essential.

而且這要件很重要

That component

這個要件是

is that we cannot be attached to outcome.

我們不能有情感上的依附

Now I worked with dying people

我和這些走在生命最後階段的人

for over 40 years.

相處超過40年了

I had the privilege of working on death row

我有幸在戒備最深嚴的地方

in a maximum security [prison] for six years.

與死囚們共事了六年

And I realized so clearly

我很清楚得瞭解到

in bringing my own life experience,

而這是我經驗之談

from working with dying people

與面臨死亡的人相處

and training caregivers,

和訓練照護人員時

that any attachment to outcome

若對結果有情感的依附

would distort deeply

會嚴重影響

my own capacity to be fully present

我面對悲劇

to the whole catastrophe.

的能力

And when I worked in the prison system,

當我在監牢裡工作時

it was so clear to me, this:

我更瞭解到

that many of us

在我們當中

in this room,

有很多人

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

和多數的死刑犯

the seeds of their own compassion had never been watered.

心中同情心的種子從未被灌溉過

That compassion is actually

同情心事實上是

an inherent human quality.

人類與生俱來

It is there within every human being.

每一個人都有的

But the conditions

但能夠促使

for compassion to be activated,

同情心萌芽

to be aroused,

的狀況，

are particular conditions.

是很特殊的

I had that condition, to a certain extent,

在某種程度上，我小時候的一場大病

from my own childhood illness.

給了我這樣的狀況

Eve Ensler, whom you'll hear later,

等下我來告訴你們依夫‧恩斯勒

has had that condition activated

她那驚人的同情心

amazingly in her

如何在一連串

through the various waters of suffering

的痛苦中

that she has been through.

被啓發的

And what is fascinating

更驚人的是

is that compassion has enemies,

同情心是有敵人的

and those enemies are things like pity,

敵人的名字就叫做遺憾

moral outrage,

憤怒

fear.

與害怕

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

如你們所知，我們的社會

that is paralyzed by fear.

被恐懼癱瘓了

And in that paralysis, of course,

在這樣的狀況下，當然的

our capacity for compassion

我們同情的能力

is also paralyzed.

也被癱瘓了

The very word terror

恐怖這個辭

is global.

存於全世界

The very feeling of terror is global.

恐怖這個感覺是全世界都有的

So our work, in a certain way,

所以我們的工作，在某些程度上

is to address this imago,

就是解決這樣的意象

this kind of archetype

這樣的原始的意念

that has pervaded the psyche

這已經滲入全人類

of our entire globe.

思想中了

Now we know from neuroscience

我們從神經科學中瞭解到

that compassion has

同情心

some very extraordinary qualities.

有其與眾不同的特質

For example:

舉例來說

A person who is cultivating compassion,

一個正在培養同情心的人

when they are in the presence of suffering,

當他正在面對苦痛時

they feel that suffering a lot more

他會比其他人

than many other people do.

更能感受到這些痛苦

However,

但是

they return to baseline a lot sooner.

他們也可以更快復原

This is called resilience.

這叫做復原力

Many of us think that compassion drains us,

我們之中很多人認為同情心會讓我們枯乾

but I promise you

但我向你們保證

it is something that truly enlivens us.

同情心絕對會讓我們充滿生命力

Another thing about compassion

在來是

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

同情心會促進神經整合

It hooks up all parts of the brain.

將腦部的各個部份連接在一起

Another, which has been discovered

還有就是，艾默理大學的研究人員

by various researchers

及加州大學的研究人員

at Emory and at Davis and so on,

發現

is that compassion enhances our immune system.

慈悲心會增加免疫力

Hey,

這很棒耶!

we live in a very noxious world.

因為我們處在一個很毒的世界

(Laughter)

【笑聲】

Most of us are shrinking

多數人面對

in the face of psycho-social and physical poisons,

心理和生理的毒物時

of the toxins of our world.

不斷得在萎縮

But compassion, the generation of compassion,

但同情心，及慈悲心的產生

actually mobilizes

其實能活化我們的

our immunity.

免疫力

You know, if compassion is so good for us,

既然大家都知道同情心這麼好了

I have a question.

讓我問你們一個問題

Why don't we train our children

為何不訓練我們的孩子

in compassion?

擁有同情心？

(Applause)

【掌聲】

If compassion is so good for us,

如果同情心這麼好，

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

為何不訓練我們的醫護人員慈悲心

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

如此他們就能把該做的事做好

which is to really transform suffering?

他們的工作不就是化解苦難嗎？

And if compassion is so good for us,

而且如果同情心這麼好

why don't we vote on compassion?

何不投票給同情心？

Why don't we vote for people in our government

何不在選舉時

based on compassion,

投票給有同情心的人呢?

so that we can have

如此我們就能

a more caring world?

擁有一個充滿關懷的世界

In Buddhism,

在佛教中，

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

我們說：「需要一個強壯的背脊，但柔軟的顏面。」

It takes tremendous strength of the back

我們背後需要有強大的力量

to uphold yourself in the midst of conditions.

來讓我們立足於各種狀況

And that is the mental quality of equanimity.

那也是能人處世泰然的能力

But it also takes a soft front --

但我們需要柔軟的顏面

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

需要能夠敞開心胸接受這世界

to have an undefended heart.

能夠有個不俱防備的心靈

And the archetype of this in Buddhism

而在佛教中這樣的榜樣

is Avalokiteshvara, Kuan-Yin.

就是觀世音菩薩

It's a female archetype:

這是個女性的典型

she who perceives

她是個接受

the cries of suffering in the world.

全世界苦難的人

She stands with 10,000 arms,

她有一萬隻手

and in every hand,

每隻手上

there is an instrument of liberation,

都有一個用以解放的工具

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

每一隻手掌上都有眼睛

and these are the eyes of wisdom.

而這些眼睛是智慧之眼

I say that, for thousands of years,

數幾千年來

women have lived,

所有存在過的女性們

exemplified, met in intimacy,

都是例子，也親身接觸過

the archetype of Avalokitesvara,

觀世音菩薩

of Kuan-Yin,

的典型

she who perceives

觀音感受著

the cries of suffering in the world.

全世界的苦難

Women have manifested for thousands of years

女性數千年來展現著

the strength arising from compassion

由同情心而來的力量

in an unfiltered, unmediated way

她們毫不逃避及掩飾的

in perceiving suffering

感受著

as it is.

苦難

They have infused societies with kindness,

他們將慈愛注入社會

and we have really felt that

而我們可以確實在

as woman after woman

這過去一天半裡

has stood on this stage

從接連上講台的女性

in the past day and a half.

深深得感受到。

And they have actualized compassion

而她們也將同情心

through direct action.

化為實際行動

Jody Williams called it:

喬迪·威廉斯說過

It's good to meditate.

冥想是件好事

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

但我想對喬迪說，你也必須做點別的

Step back, give your mother a break, okay.

讓一步，讓你媽媽休息一下。好嗎？

(Laughter)

【笑聲】

But the other side of the equation

但這件事的另外一面是

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

你必須走出你的洞穴

You have to come into the world

你必須走進這個世界

like Asanga did,

像無著菩薩那樣

who was looking to realize Maitreya Buddha

在洞穴中坐禪12年

after 12 years sitting in the cave.

希望可以看見彌勒佛

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

他最後說：「我要出關了。」

He's going down the path.

他沿著路往下走

He sees something in the path.

他看到路上有東西

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

原來是隻狗，他跪下看看

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

看到這狗的腿上有一個大傷口

The wound is just filled with maggots.

上面爬滿了蛆

He puts out his tongue

他伸出了舌頭

in order to remove the maggots,

為狗清除傷口上的蛆

so as not to harm them.

以免傷著了蛆

And at that moment,

在那一刻

the dog transformed

狗變身成

into the Buddha of love and kindness.

代表愛與慈祥的菩薩

I believe

我認為

that women and girls today

現代的婦女和女孩

have to partner in a powerful way with men --

必須以充滿力量的方式於男性合作

with their fathers,

與父親合作

with their sons, with their brothers,

與兒子與兄弟合作

with the plumbers, the road builders,

與水電工、建造道路的工人

the caregivers, the doctors, the lawyers,

與醫護人員、醫生、律師

with our president,

與國家元首

and with all beings.

與所有人合作

The women in this room

在場的所有婦女

are lotuses in a sea of fire.

是火海中的蓮花

May we actualize that capacity

讓我們把這樣的能力

for women everywhere.

帶給各地的女性

Thank you.

謝謝各位

(Applause)

（掌聲）