Charter for Compassion

Charter for Compassion – http://www.charterforcompassion.org/
The Scientific and Medical Network recently held a conference entitled the Science of Empathy and the Spirit of Compassion at the University of Winchester. The speakers were Karen Armstrong, who spoke about the Charter for Compassion, which she formulated and set up as a movement following the award of a TED Prize. Her original presentation can be found on the TED website. Prof Paul Gilbert from the University of Derby and author of The Compassionate Mind described the various systems in the brain and how we are wired both for caring and compassion and for fear and threat avoidance. Although we have an inherent capacity for compassion, it needs to be fostered, and an important component is early interaction with the mother via mirror neurons, as demonstrated by Dr Valeria Gazzola from Amsterdam. Geshe Tashi Tsering, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, described the philosophy and practice of compassion and reminded people that it takes courage and commitment to be compassionate. Psychiatrist Dr Iain McGilchrist, author of The Master and his Emissary, explains not only the different ways of processing between the right and left hemispheres of the brain, but also put forward his case that modern Western society is unbalanced towards left hemisphere thinking. Looking at the development of the values poster award, it seems quite feasible to design a poster template centre around the development of compassion and compassionate role models. See also Paul Gilbert’s site.