The Unexpected Benefits of Leading a Compassionate Life

The task of leading a kinder, more compassionate life is not easy. Karen Armstrong, who is spear heading the Charter For Global Compassion, remarked during an interview with Bill Moyers, that compassion requires daily discipline. While it seems almost automatic to be kind and compassionate towards those we love, extending those same feelings towards those we do not like much less love, is another matter. Perhaps this is why all the major religions agree on the necessity of practicing the golden rule: do unto others as you would have done unto you or, love thy neighbor as thyself, or do not do to others what you would not want done to you. To examine what kindness and compassion contribute towards relationships and to the wider world, we must first look at what is transformed within each of us through these practices. And to do that we must also look at what they are not.

Kindness is not false. I took me years to convince my children of this. When my oldest son was in grade school, I used to make him peanut butter and honey sandwiches for lunch. One day I picked him up early because he was not feeling well, and as we were leaving the school we stopped by his locker for his homework books. When he opened his locker, and this is not exaggeration, there was at least a 12″ deep pile of mashed paper bags with former peanut butter and honey sandwiches. I asked Geoff, why he’d never told me he no longer liked peanut butter and honey sandwiches, if in fact he ever did. He said, “Well, I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.” To which I responded, “Well how many more of these sandwiches do you want to get?
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