Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It is often divided into two parts: cognitive empathy, which allows us to grasp another person’s unique perspective, and emotional empathy, which allows us to experience some of what they are feeling. These two forms of empathy can foster the conditions necessary for compassion to develop.

With an understanding of dependent origination, we learn that each individual possesses a unique personal perspective. By reading about the Blind Men and the Elephant, we can see how each individual can hold a limited, incomplete perspective, even while believing they see things accurately.

Reading stories, watching films, and practicing mindful listening exercises can all be rich contexts for practicing empathy. It involves putting ourselves in another’s shoes and really imagining what life is like for the characters. Understanding the situation from their point of view is cognitive empathy. Imagining how they feel, or feeling it ourselves, is emotional empathy. When that feeling is paired with a wish to support them or alleviate their suffering, it is compassion.

Empathy is the doorway to connecting with others, allowing us to put ourselves in their shoes, while compassion is the fruit that comes from sharing their joy as our own, and their pain as our own.

Reflect on various experiences of witnessing others suffer, and consider how and why your emotions might differ in different situations.

• How does it feel when someone offers you empathy and understanding when you're upset?
• What does it mean to feel "seen" and/or "heard"?

Differentiate between cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, and compassion by analyzing how each contributes to understanding others’ perspectives and experiences; evaluate how dependent origination explains the uniqueness of individual viewpoints using examples like “The Blind Men and the Elephant”; and implement mindful listening and perspective-taking practices that cultivate empathy and transform it into compassionate action for alleviating others’ suffering.