Compassion vs. Empathy

[Omoi Otoshi]

Compassion vs. Empathy

when students are getting ready to actually start counseling someone, I tell them to stop thinking about all this stuff and just BE with that person (BTW, that really blows their minds :lol.

You could even add: BE with that person, in this present moment!

Thanks,

[AlanLa]

Re: Compassion vs. Empathy

I do say that, but not always in those words because the work of counseling is a little more complicated than Zen practice. Without ever calling it by name, Zen pervades my teaching. I am an academic, but I am also a Buddhist. They are (I am) not one, not two.

[Omoi Otoshi]

Re: Compassion vs. Empathy

I'm not sure your students would actually recognize it as Zen buddhistic concept, because it makes so much sense, even for someone who has never hearn a word of buddhist thought, to be with someone in that moment, if you want to be truly empathic. I.e. it could be interpreted as giving that other person your full attention, being present, without being distracted by thinking about what to have for dinner later that evening. And Mindfulness training is now getting more and more popular among health care professionals and therapists these days anyway.