compassions

Noun

compassion (usually uncountable, plural compassions)

1. (usually) Deep awareness of the suffering of others that people have to the point of them being motivated to relieve such states.
   • Oh! the unspeakable privilege to have Him for our Father, who is the Father of mercies and compassions, and those not barren, fruitless pityings, for He is withal the God of all consolations.1849, Robert Leighton (Archbishop of Glasgow), A practical commentary upon the first Epistle of St. Peter (page 47)
2. (broadly, usually) Deep awareness of the individual experiences of suffering of others or themselves that people have to the point of them being motivated to relieve such experiences, as reflected by the psychological term self-compassion.
   • Similarly to the practice of loving kindness, meditation on compassion towards our own experience builds the foundation for expansion of the circle of compassion towards others.2013, Dusana Dorjee, Mind, Brain and the Path to Happiness — A Guide to Buddhist Mind Training and the Neuroscience of Meditation, page 75

See all 3 meanings of compassion