Dalai Lama Torch Relay And Compassion

Ms Jenni Wright from http://www.emotionalintelligenceaus.com talks about the Dalai Lama the torch relay and compassion.

The Dalai Lama has recently attended a five-day Seeds of Compassion conference. The conference featured dozens of workshops on various subjects, beginning with a panel discussion on the opening day with the Dalai Lama on "The Scientific Basis for Compassion: What We Know Now." He was determined to attend the Seattle conference because of his commitment to global peace, organisers said.

In recent days, the Dalai Lama has been very open in his comments about the Olympics, the torch relay and Tibet. The Dalai Lama ‘…wants compassion for both sides, for the Tibetans, for the Chinese brothers," said Lama Tenzin Dhonden, a Tibetan monk who spearheaded the development of the conference.

Compassion comes in two forms – compassion for self and compassion for others. Compassion never excuses obnoxious behaviour. Instead it makes us more aware of hurts and feelings that may be below or behind the behaviour and move towards the person in compassion rather than to further attack someone who is already wounded or hurting.

Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence Why it can matter more tha
IQ says we are all born with the capacity for empathy, but we sometimes choose to ignore it. In the very new science called social neuroscience Goleman says it shows that we have the default wiring to help others. We feel with a person automatically. See http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/200nnWhy is it then that we can walk by someone in need in the street? In his talk, Goleman comes to the conclusion that all it takes for compassion to happen is that a person become aware that compassion is needed. This can be a call to action for others, who then rally round and assist.

Compassion, often called empathy, is certainly one of the emotions that is gaining attention in research. Other speakers at the Seeds of Compassion conference will explore the new research that shows infants can mirror emotions much earlier than previously thought.

What if compassion were rife rather than violence? What if we carefully trained our children in compassion? Children are obviously learning about emotions sooner than we thought, so would it be a thought to teach them how to manage emotions well? There was a saying when I was younger that attitudes are caught not taught. What are we teaching our children about attitudes, about the way to behave?

Why wait until another tsunami, hurricane or other catastrophic world event? Compassion in the small, everyday circumstances of life can have a ripple effect that CAN change the world. The Dalai Lama believes it, and so do I.