Seeing people in trouble, we should not ignore them,

thinking it’s their karma,

their own doing.

Throughout our innumerable lifetimes, not knowing about or not truly understanding cause and effect, we have thought and acted without considering what could happen afterward. We were ignorant then. And we still are. 

We were, and remain, like children, acting impulsively without any thought of consequences. Just as we empathize with the child who hurts herself falling out of a tree, we feel compassion for people who bring suffering upon themselves through their own actions. They are ignorant. Just like us.

To understand that suffering is brought about by one’s actions allows us to improve our behavior. It also helps us to deepen our compassion through the giving of fearlessness and of what we have. To dismiss suffering as the person’s own fault is to be judgmental, not compassionate.

No matter how powerful or old the other person is, they are actually children when it comes to realizing the pervasiveness of causality

Just like us.