Several years ago, I began to parse compassion into various cate
s. Compas
did not
seem very nuanced from the Western perspective (see Harrington[13] and Halifax[14]), and there
appeared to be more categories of compassion than is usually thought the case. I realized that this
would be relevant to clinicians, particularly those who worked on palliative care teams, where team
bonding is essential and the in-group is strong. As well, from the conceptual and ethical
perspective, clinicians who work in the end-of-life care field have a unique relationship to
conceptually-based compassion in giving care to those who are gravely ill.
I want to acknowledge the insights of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Buddhist scholar John
Dunne in assisting in clarifying various categories of compassion. There seem to be two large
categories of compassion: referential or biased compassion, i.e., compassion with an object; and
non-referential or unbiased compassion, i.e., compassion that is objectless and pervasive
Both of these types of compassion are important for clinicians to actualize in clinician/patient
interactions.
Referential or Biased Compassion Includes Various Subtypes:
Referential compassion is subdivided into different subtypes, which can also be distinguished in
compassion for in-group or out-group members. The different types of referential as well as non-
referential compassion are summarized below.
Biologically based compassion:
Parent/child bond, family bond, sexual bond
Attached compassion:
Bonded in-group: medical team, combatants, neighbors
Compassion through identification:
Having suffered in a particular way and identifying with the
suffering of one who has had a similar experience of suffering
Reasoned compassion:
Ethically based compassion: compassion perceived as a moral imperative
Conceptually based compassion:
Compassion that arises as a result of having insight into the
nature of interdependence and that all beings want happiness.
The second type of compassion is
non-referential or unbiased compassion
, also called
universal
compassion
. This category came to my attention through Tibetan Buddhist teachings on
compassion offered by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It is compassion without an object, where
compassion pervades the mind of the experiencer as a way of being.
Non-Referential or Unbiased Compassion:
Universal compassion:
Pervasive compassion that is not directed towards an object
A.B.I.D.E. Model of Compassion
Compassion has been defined as “the emotion one experiences when feeling concern for another’s
suffering and desiring to enhance that person’s welfare”
(see
for broad definitions of
compassion). Compassion is believed to have two main aspects: the affective feeling of caring for
one who is suffering, and the motivation to relieve that suffering
. This definition is frequently
used and represents a narrow definition of compassion. However, it might not take into account, for
example, the experience of non-referential compassion. Moreover, the A.B.I.D.E. model assumes
that compassion is a process that is contingent and emergent. It is often inter-relational and
mutual, reciprocal and asymmetrical. Also, compassion is possibly not a discrete feature but an
emergent and contingent process that is context sensitive and dependent on other mental features.
This view of compassion can have important consequences in the clinical setting (for more detail
212
Categories of Compassion
