Abstract

Two terms, ‘자기자비’ and ‘자기연민’, have been used as translations for self-compassion, causing confusion in communication. This study addressed the translation issue of self-compassion in three ways. First, we argued that ‘자기연민’ is an inappropriate translation for self-compassion due to its negative connotations, which are supported by examples from dictionaries, daily usage, and academic/cultural/artistic contexts. We searched for examples in ‘Naver’, ‘Google’, ‘RISS (Research Information Service System)’, ‘the National Library of Korea’, and ‘Google Scholar’. The search results revealed that ‘자기연민’ is used with a negative connotation, not only in dictionaries and common usage but also in academic/cultural/artistic contexts. However, we found that the positive usage of ‘자기연민’ emerged after it was introduced as a translation for self-compassion, causing confusion in its meaning. Second, we presented several pieces of evidence to support the translation of ‘compassion’ in self-compassion as ‘자비(慈悲)’ because the term ‘compassion’ includes not only ‘karuna(悲)’ but also ‘metta(慈)’. We provided evidence from Buddhist literature showing that metta(慈) and karuna(悲) are interrelated, and from compassion-related programs or therapies developed in Western countries showing that the term ‘compassion’ includes both karuna(悲) and metta(慈). Third, we argued that ‘연민’ is not a suitable translation for "compassion" because it is difficult to interpret ‘연민’ as ‘karuna(悲)’ in the Buddhist context. If you believe that ‘연민’ has been used to mean ‘karuna(悲)’, it is not the case. Rather, ‘자비’ has been used as the meaning of ‘karuna(悲)’. We concluded that ‘자기자비’ is a more appropriate translation for self-compassion than ‘자기연민’.