Idiot Compassion
Oct. 21st, 2021 10:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
evile https://enlightenmentward.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/manifestations-of-idiot-compassion/
Idiot compassion is the highly conceptualized idea that you want to do good to somebody. At this point, good is purely related with pleasure. Idiot compassion also stems from not have enough courage to say no.--Chogyam Trungpa
It is interesting that he used the phrase “do good to somebody.” rather than “for somebody”. And Trungpa Rinpoche certainly knew enough about semantics not to have stated it that way by accident. Doing something “to somebody” implies an outside force or an infliction and imposition upon them rather than an alleviation of their situation.
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In other words: Idiot Compassion is a violation of TWO of the 4 Agreements--don't take anything personally & don't make assumptions. When you practice Idiot Compassion, you are personalizing another person's struggle and you are putting yourself so much into their shoes that you are solving their problem as if it was your problem--"here's what I'd do in that situation, so I will impose my solution on a person who isn't me and hasn't asked me to solve their problems, save them, or insert myself into their situation in any way, form, or fashion." I took it personally and assumed they wanted or needed my help.
In hindsight, such behavior viewed in this context is extremely distasteful. And yet, my inner "Ms. Fix-it" constantly hovers in my mind, wanting to make things personal and fix them as if they were my problem to solve. ugh
