Yogi: I’m confused between sadness and compassion – I’m afraid that I’ll lose compassion without sadness. Perhaps I don’t understand what compassion is because if I see someone die or get sick, it has a different flavor than simply wishing others well.
Sayadaw: What we’re used to experiencing as compassion is mixed with suffering. That suffering bit is actually aversion because we don’t want things to be that way; we would like things to be fine.
There is the wishing well for others but on the other hand, there is the non-acceptance of the situation or the grief or whatever is going on.
When it is pure compassion, compassion is a wholesome mind, then it will feel good. It can understand that there is suffering, but the mind is not suffering together with it.
Compassion alone has no sense of suffering in it.