In this post, we put forth our understanding of Karuna. Instead of giving its definition right-away, we first take the Neti-Neti approach to understand it.
Not compassion
We hypothesize that it is not compassion. Compassion is defined as:
sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it
We may feel compassionate towards a poor person and, in an act of compassion, give them money. It's an act of kindness, but it may stem from a feeling that the other person is unfortunate. This is not Karuna because we think we are more fortunate than the other. Karuna stems from the universal force that connects all living beings, not from fortune.
Not mercy
Mercy is defined as:
compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.
A king may grant mercy to a prisoner, but that's not necessarily Karuna. It stems from a feeling of superiority, since the person showing mercy is more powerful than the other person. Karuna originates from a non-hierarchical sameness among living beings.
Not Empathy
Empathy's definition is:
the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
Being able to understand the feelings of another may originate from the mind, and from having shared similar experiences; that's not Karuna. For example, someone who has raised children could empathize with a new parent, since they have shared experiences. Or someone who's well read and has a good practical imagination can empathize with other people's experiences even when they haven't directly experienced them, because of their mind. Karuna doesn't stem from the mind, however.
Not "an active concern for the suffering of others"
Karuna doesn't only relate to suffering; it may lead to feeling bliss along with the other person as well.
So, having Neti-Neti-ed the common words used to describe Karuna, we put forth our understanding. We think that Karuna stems from the spirit, not the mind, not the body. Its origin is non-hierarchical; it cannot be attributed to some system of comparison, like money, health, fortune, or death etc. It's not necessarily related to suffering. It can lead to feeling joy.
We believe that it's due to the universal force that connects all sentient beings, and that all sentient beings are capable of feeling Karuna. We believe that it's Nature's way of connecting us emotionally so that we can understand others fully, even if it is for a very, very small amount of time.