All inner development is just a process of re-remembering

The following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Question (Q): Dear Sir, I want to inquire about a couple of perspectives that are troubling me to some extent.

The first one is based on an earlier conversation I had with you: when there is action without the self, is that action marked by compassion?

The second doubt is: I was reading somewhere yesterday that there is a very strong disconnection between our body(which includes the mind) and consciousness. Does our consciousness, or rather cosmic consciousness work independent of the needs of the body or are the two deeply interlinked?

Would love to hear your response to the same.

Acharya Prashant (AP): What is compassion? Can any word exist without the consciousness of its opposite? The moment you use the word ‘compassion’, you cannot be fully compassionate because the very existence of the word will limit compassion.

It is like this: what is all-pervasive cannot be known by the mind because the mind can only know via conflict. So, if a mind knows compassion and is able to assign a word to it, it only means a limit to compassion, a certain lack of compassion, a point where compassion ends and cruelty begins.