Even the unconditioned is conditioned on awakening
In some spiritual traditions, they talk about conditioned and unconditioned such as such - for instance compassion.
This makes sense when we talk about conventional conditioning, but there seems to still be a condition there - even for the "unconditioned".
When I am exclusively identified with my human self, anything that comes up for me tends to be conditioned by external and internal circumstances. Something happens which triggers something in me, and the mechanisms behind it are formed by biology, culture and personal experiences. So in this case, (just about?) everything is conditioned - in a conventional sense.
When I awaken to myself as pure awareness, or as what is with no "I" anywhere, there tends to be "unconditioned" compassion and so on. But what comes up is still conditioned on something, in this case the realization of our nature as pure awareness or as what is with no "I" anywhere.
The infinite compassion that tends to come up here is certainly unconditioned by anything in the world of form, although it can be stimulated by it. And it can be described as unconditioned in the sense that everything is just happening - it is emptiness dancing. But we can also say that it is conditioned on awakening and immediate realization.
Labels: compassion, realized selflessness