Question: What if we feel an unbearable compassion for the suffering of other beings–especially animals, because it is often more obvious–yet we have not developed the wisdom to deal with it properly?
HHDL: This is all the more reason why, now that you have developed that feeling of ‘unbearable’ compassion toward others, you should try to increase your wisdom, and intelligence, in order to deal with the actual situation. This is why practitioners on the bodhisattva path are encouraged not to be satisfied with just an idealistic idea of compassion, but to put that ideal into practice immediately. So I believe that when you follow the bodhisattva’s way of life, it is possible to match your compassion, at whatever level it may be, with an active kind of interaction with others.
