Is There a Cultural Framework for Compassion?

Athiss: My problem with compassion was that, first of all, it just seemed irretrievably sappy and gooy. And then also, i didn't get into meditation to be mother, teresa. I got into meditation to make myself less miserable. So tell me why the old me was wrong. Athiss: We in the west don't really have a good cultural framework to understand compassion. Part of that has to do with history; we somehow have found a way to relegate compassion either within the domain of religion or family life.