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there is also evidence that compassion meditation, which aims to bring gentle awareness to our interactions with others and encourage feelings of empathy, actually boosts the body's immune system1.
Researchers with Emory University found that "engagement in compassion meditation reduced stress-induced immune and behavioural responses." 
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Rich Lowry writes on NRO: The Republican noncandidate flavor of the week is Texas governor Rick Perry. If you squint just right, you could mistake him at a podium for his predecessor, George W. Bush. Except for his message...
There might be no more powerful symbol of the death of compassionate conservatism in the Republican party than Bush’s successor and former running mate in Texas stomping all over it with cowboy boots emblazoned with the words “Freedom” and “Liberty.”
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Religious faith [...] erodes compassion. Thoughts like, “this might be all part of God’s plan,” or “there are no accidents in life,” or “everyone on some level gets what he or she deserves” – these ideas are not only stupid, they are extraordinarily callous.
They are nothing more than a childish refusal to connect with the suffering of other human beings. It is time to grow up and let our hearts break at moments like this. -- Sam Harris
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According to every Holy One who walked this earth, there is one thing necessary to living happily ever after: Compassion. Not only is compassion the golden rule of a blessed life, it’s also the greatest spiritual force in the universe. In the life of Christ, compassion is the stuff of which miracles are made. In our lives too, becoming compassionate makes us capable of miracles. Give it a try and see for yourself.
1. See Diversity as Divine 2. Be Kind to Strangers 3. Don’t Judge What You Can’t Understand
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INCREASING rates of suicide are caused by the lack of compassion in society and we need to become more affectionate if we are to change the world for the better, the Dalai Lama says.
Addressing thousands of followers in Melbourne on Saturday on the true meaning of happiness, he said the replacement of affection in society with greed had brought mankind frustration and loneliness. Money and material possessions provided temporary happiness but not true inner peace, he said. He urged people to exercise compassion...
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No member of the veterinary team is safe from a particular kind of emotional trauma common among professions dominated by compassionate, caring people wanting to ease the suffering of others, according to Katherine Dobbs.
Compassion fatigue, known also as secondary traumatic stress disorder, is as real as any physical injury, said Dobbs, a veterinary management and human resources consultant. Left untreated, compassion fatigue jeopardizes not just the employee but also a veterinary practice's bottom line.
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Try this out for a minute, two minutes or longer. You can do this entire sequence or just choose one of them:
* You – Practice breathing in hope, connect with your heart, and breathe out love to the rest of us. As you breathe in you can shorten the words to hope on the inhalation and love on the exhalation. * Someone who is suffering – Take a moment to think of this person and then breathe in hope for them and as you breathe out love imagine sending that love to them. * A Group who is suffering – This can be a community you know of, a country or everyone in the world who is currently suffering. Breathe in hope for all of these people, connect with your heart and as you breathe out love, imagine it seeping into all of these people. This practice helps nurture compassion ..
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Happy Compassion Week everyone!
Thanks for visiting our site and welcome to Compassion Week, an annual discussion about the role animals play in our lives. To start things off, I want to put forward seven reasons to celebrate compassion in Toronto. 1. Toronto is a compassionate city – Toronto’s nonprofit and voluntary sector is as thriving as the metropolis it represents. Community organizations exist to tackle issues as broad as human rights, poverty, sustainability, labour issues, animal compassion and much more. You can check out a few such organizations at our Compassion Marketplace this Saturday.
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A practice in compassion is, particularly for myself as a woman, an act of feminism. If I turn my practice inward, if I look to act in ways that do not harm me (ahimsa in Sanskrit) then I am less likely to participate or condone actions rooted in greed. I feel better. As simple as that sounds. But with this comfort comes less of the inclination to see discomfort in others. Compassion returns me to the root, the real root, of feminism.
Feminism is a set of political philosophies and practices rooted in the respect and love for women. Clearly, the first step for any woman, then, is to love herself. However, this love is no easy thing, as simple as it may be to label. Our world continues to derail us, throwing into our path distractions that inspire our vision outward, disconnecting us from the core practices that may heal us and, inevitably, others. Img http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassion
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Compassion fatigue, known also as secondary traumatic stress disorder, is as real as any physical injury, said Dobbs, a veterinary management and human resources consultant. Left untreated, compassion fatigue jeopardizes not just the employee but also a veterinary practice's bottom line...
Compassion fatigue is defined as emotional exhaustion experienced by caregivers frequently exposed to highly stressful situations. Persons experiencing compassion fatigue may isolate themselves, become increasingly apathetic, complain excessively or blame others, lose interest in their appearance and hygiene, or abuse alcohol and drugs.
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The First Compassion Fatigue Conference: What works for Individuals and Organizations? Two Day Conference, June 15th - 16th, Ambassador Conference Centre - Kingston On
Françoise Mathieu, is director of Compassion Fatigue Solutions whose aim is to offer consulting and training to helpers on topics related to self care, wellness, burnout and compassion fatigue.
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Emotions of love and compassion give meaning and purpose to life. The brain is wired with circuitry for caring and empathic connection.
It is “a relationship organ,” as described by researcher Dr. Daniel Siegel. It can be said that all experience in life is relational. Your experience of self is always in relation to self, other persons, to life itself, for example. Your deepest strivings are for love and meaningful connection to life within and around you
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With threatening clouds gathering outside Tuesday, inside a downtown Knoxville church a different type of storm was brewing — a brainstorm.
More than 30 Knoxville-area residents gathered inside First Presbyterian Church for a Compassion Knoxville meeting to discuss their feelings on homelessness and what should be done to combat the issue.
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The concept of compassion or empathy has a unique expression in Sanskrit – it is called karuna. I have been contemplating this word ever since a visit with Amma Karunamayi a few weeks ago. She had made a very important point about helping those in need – often called “seva”.
She insisted that “seva” should be done with compassion, or “karuna”. However, if “seva” is done with a sense of guilt or a sense of obligation , it does very little benefit to the giver or recipient of the “seva”. img http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India
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Now, before some argue that I’m being a cold-blooded fiscal conservative, let me remind you that foisting compassion on the populace with other people’s money (or, more accurately, money the government doesn’t have) is no compassion at all.
Expecting America to continue funding this notion of “compassionate conservatism” is like expecting a man to give to charity even when he cannot afford to feed his own family.
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The International Institute for Compassionate Cities is initiating the creation of a body of resources (including forms, proclamations, funding sources, and support organizations), collecting and distributing information on best practices, identifying supportive research, providing a broad range of media (policy papers and related publications, audio and video recordings), and conducting on-site and web-based symposia, workshops and retreats.
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The spiritual leader of Tibet, the 14th Dalai Lama is continuing his 11-day visit to Australia where his main topic of discussion is compassion and forgiveness.
He says moral principals are lacking in Australia and many other countries, which can bring down even the best democratic system. The Dalai Lama who also delivered a message of hope to all refugees, saying he himself is a refugee was asked if he would support a fully independent Tibet.
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A shopkeeper said to me last week, "Thanks for your recent column about compassion. It's my way of living. Compassion is revolutionary!"
And that comment has stuck with me for days. Because it occurs to me that yes, compassion is revolutionary. And in his ministry, Jesus called us to be revolutionaries. From where I stand, it seems to me that compassion is so counter-cultural that it borders on the radical. In a "what's-in-it-for-me" society, expressing concern for The Other is contrary - it is revolutionary.
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Please do not be put off by what seems like a 'religious' post. No, it is more of a plea for compassion to a silent and seemingly indifferent Church. I can't believe that we do not have a teaching on compassion for the animals.
I hope one day that there will be a pope who will write an encyclical re compassion for animals. You might think -what's so important about that? Well, since there are over a billion Catholics in the world who look to the teaching majesterium of the Catholic Church for moral guidance, it follows that a compassionate teaching would have hopefully a great impact on how we view animals and our treatment of them. Presently, to my knowledge, there is no official teaching (encyclical) re compassion for animals. I am told to look in the Catholic Catechism for the pitifully small reference to them.
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It’s hard to always show compassion — even to the people we love, but Robert Thurman asks that we develop compassion for our enemies. He prescribes a seven-step meditation exercise to extend compassion beyond our inner circle.
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Karen Armstrong, author of Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life and other books about religion, will present the Ware Lecture on Saturday, June 25, speaking on “The Challenge of Compassion.” Armstrong, who has been promoting an interfaith “Charter for Compassion” for the past few years, is encouraging GA goers to read the book in advance of her presentation.
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I saw the House majority leader, Rep Eric Cantor, R-Va., throw the citizens of Joplin, Mo., under the bus.
He told a nationwide television audience that all federal monies used to rebuild Joplin – or any other area that desperately needs aid — must be offset by reductions in other programs so as not to increase the deficit. So much for the GOP’s avowed philosophy of compassionate conservatism.
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A new study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology provides more evidence that violent video games desensitize players to violence, and makes them more violent in real life. This is not the first study to report such an effect; the evidence has been steadily accumulating over the last decade. But this study is worth looking at because it accidentally reveals both the immediate and long-term consequences of play.
This study doesn't just point to the effects of playing violent video games. It also raises important, unanswered questions, like: Can a desensitized brain be resensitized to respond to violence and suffering with alarm and compassion, not indifference? Few studies have examined the process of training the brain to be more reactive; compassion meditation appears to be one promising possibility.
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Massage Today provides massage & spa therapy news, research & information for alternative health professionals...
Compassion fatigue is a relatively new term. Dr. Charles Figley, an expert on the subject, describes it as, "a state experienced by those helping people in distress; it is an extreme state of tension and preoccupation with the suffering of those being helped to the degree that it is traumatizing for the helper." He goes on to say that, "the capacity for compassion and empathy seems to be at the core of our ability to do the work and at the core of our ability to be wounded by the work." Compassion fatigue results from the cumulative impact of taking care of people living with serious illness, trauma, abuse or severe conditions. It's different than job burnout, which is dissatisfaction with our employment situation, not necessarily the work itself. (Massage Today provides massage & spa therapy news, research & information for alternative health professionals...)
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Practicing small acts of kindness will make you a happier person, and the boost in mood stays with you for months, according to research out of York University.
More than 700 people took part in a study that charted the effects of being nice to others, in small doses, over the course of a week. Researchers asked participants to act compassionately towards someone for 5 to 15 minutes a day, by actively helping or interacting with them in a supportive and considerate manner. Six months later, participants reported increased happiness and self-esteem. “The concept of compassion and kindness resonates with so many religious traditions, yet it has received little empirical evidence until recently,” says lead author Myriam Mongrain (right), professor of Psychology in York’s Faculty of Health.
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