In other words, empathic states are most likely to produce compassionate acts when we manage a detached distance. This brings to mind the anecdote from many chapters ago about the Buddhist monk I encountered who said that, yes, sometimes he cuts short his cross-legged meditation because of his knees, but not because he feels them hurting—“I do it as an act of kindness to my knees.” And this is certainly in line with the Buddhist approach to compassion, which views it as a simple, detached, self-evident imperative rather than as requiring vicarious froth. You act compassionately toward one
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