Chapter 1: The Circle of Compassion
When I was in my twenties, my Buddhist teacher tricked me into taking a vow of universal compassion. Using some spiritual sleight-of-hand I've yet to unravel, he made it seem I could aspire to a tender concern for everybody, even putting their welfare

Chapter 1: The Circle of Compassion, Part 2
What do we mean by compassion? The word itself is one among many used to describe the profundity of human connection; but it's the only one, I'd submit, which implies kindness without condition. Empathy, for example, refers to our ability to feel

Chapter 5: The Good Eye
Life offers up its own daily catechism, even if it's just seeing people in a little better light. Why not just resolve to give everyone the benefit of the doubt? 'If we treat people as they ought to be,' said Goethe, almost nailing it, we help them become