Charter for Compassion:
www.charterforcompassion.org
The Charter for Compassion supports the emergence of a global movement that brings the Charter for Compassion to life. They are a network of networks, connecting organizers and leaders from around the world (Including Compassionate San Antonio), providing educational resources, organizing tools, and avenues for communication; sharing lessons, stories, and inspiration; providing the umbrella of the Charter for Compassion for conferences, events, collaborations, conversations and initiatives to create compassionate communities and institutions.
Compassionate Communities:
charterforcompassion.org/index.php/communities/overview
The Charter’s Compassionate Communities program is not a certificate program that offers a seal of approval, nor does it subscribe to a single definition of a Compassionate Community. Instead, the Charter invites communities of all sizes to bring compassion to life in practical, specific ways through compassion-driven actions—in neighborhoods, businesses, schools and colleges, healthcare, the arts, local government, peace groups, environmental advocacy groups, and faith congregations.
Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life:
Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life, Karen Armstrong (Knopf, 2010)
The twelve steps she suggests begin with “Learn About Compassion,” and close with “Love Your Enemies.” In between, she takes up self-love, mindfulness, suffering, sympathetic joy, the limits of our knowledge of others, and “concern for everybody.” She shares concrete methods to help us cultivate and expand our capacity for compassion, and provides a reading list to encourage us to “hear one another’s narratives.” Armstrong teaches us that becoming a compassionate human being is a lifelong project and a journey filled with rewards.
Karen Armstrong’s TED Prize talk:
www.ted.com/talks/karen_armstrong_makes_her_ted_prize_wish_the_charter_for_compassion.html
In 2008 Karen Armstrong was awarded the TED Prize and began working with TED on the Charter for Compassion, created online by the general public, and crafted by leading thinkers in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.
Current Compassionate Research:
Neuroscience: Dr. James R. Doty, MD, Founder and Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University: ccare.stanford.edu
CCARE investigates methods for cultivating compassion and promoting altruism within individuals and society through rigorous research, scientific collaborations, and academic conferences. In addition, CCARE provides a compassion cultivation program and teacher training as well as educational public events and programs.
Compassion in Business: Jane Dutton, PhD, Robert L. Kahn Distinguished Professor of Business Administration and Psychology, The Ross School of Business, The University of Michigan: www.compassionlab.org.
The CompassionLab is a group of organizational researchers who strive to create a new vision of organizations as sites for the development and expression of compassion. Our focus is on the expression of compassion in work and in the workplace, including emphasis on roles, routines, practices, relationships, teams, and structures that impact the experience of compassion in organizations. We are part of a broader community of scholars who are dedicated to developing a perspective on organizations as sites for human growth and the development of human strengths.
Compassion in Business: Microsoft has identified “Competencies” that represent many of the attributes, behaviors, areas of knowledge, skills, and abilities required for successful job performance. Each Education Competency includes a definition, four levels of proficiency, sample interview questions, activities and resources to develop skills, and examples of overdoing the competency.: One of them is Compassion:
www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/Training/Competencies/compassion.aspx
Compassion in Schools: An outgrowth of Compassionate Louisville, the Compassionate Schools Project is the most comprehensive study ever undertaken of a 21st century health and wellness curriculum in an elementary or secondary school setting. Facilitating the integrated development of mind and body, the project interweaves support in academic achievement, mental fitness, health, and compassionate character. compassionschools.org/program/
Compassion in Organizations: The Compassion Competency Quiz quiz measures the level of compassion in an organization. It is based on more than 10 years of research on compassion and organizations by the research collaborative CompassionLab and the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. CompassionLab has partnered with the Greater Good Science Center to develop this quiz especially for our website. www.greatergood.berkeley.edu/quizzes/take_quiz11
