Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Kindle
$14.99

Available instantly

Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial

Hardcover
$8.56

Paperback
$11.69

$11.69 with 38 percent savings

List Price: $19.00

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Monday, May 13 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 3 hrs 49 mins

Select delivery location

In Stock

$$11.69 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

$7.14

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

Item in acceptable condition including possible liquid damage. As well answers may be filled in. May be missing DVDs, CDs, Access code, etc. Item in acceptable condition including possible liquid damage. As well answers may be filled in. May be missing DVDs, CDs, Access code, etc. See less

FREE delivery Tuesday, May 14 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 34 mins

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$11.69 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Sold by Shakespeare Book House and Fulfilled by Amazon.

Other sellers on Amazon

New & Used (145) from $1.50 + $3.98 shipping

Follow the author

Karen Armstrong

+ Follow

More books from this author

Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life Paperback – December 27, 2011

by Karen Armstrong (Author)

4.5 729 ratings

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$11.69","priceAmount":11.69,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"11","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"69","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"hg87ss%2B8kn5ezyCDb7CcmgkLiGMcB9pxNWw5IWJt5HrxWwbhuDmd40bc86bsKKeXV7o%2FPXiYocoRqv2zmGDIQuBAbMAWUMUth8v2tZUTrZ%2F4V%2FBFXzZcPZ80Wtg5icFpBjMyniRDpzZxdj%2FWJY8KRQ%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$7.14","priceAmount":7.14,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"14","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"hg87ss%2B8kn5ezyCDb7CcmgkLiGMcB9pxrTIMG5%2BZjkI07zLxCNclFdKRcBEYIqRe5mdwRaetKuitbIokU%2FIgouVeYU2trDy4ByMv92B%2FrX%2F2CrpkM6N3tCDFuWczWCYCJhgWXXEMTFCfuGM7emrhnbMw9%2BqaCDvWnxa2Nf2c3lUd9MVUYnr3bDJrWX03bHbY","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

One of the most original thinkers on the role of religion in the modern world—and the bestselling author of such acclaimed books as A History of God, Islam, and Buddha—now gives us a thoughtful, and thought-provoking book that can help us make the world a more compassionate place.

Karen Armstrong believes that while compassion is intrinsic in all human beings, each of us needs to work diligently to cultivate and expand our capacity for compassion. Here, she sets out a program that can lead us toward a more compassionate life.

The twelve steps Armstrong suggests begin with “Learn About Compassion” and close with “Love Your Enemies.” In between, she takes up “compassion for yourself,” mindfulness, suffering, sympathetic joy, the limits of our knowledge of others, and “concern for everybody.” She suggests concrete ways of enhancing our compassion and putting it into action in our everyday lives, and provides, as well, a reading list to encourage us to “hear one another’s narratives.” Throughout, Armstrong makes clear that a compassionate life is not a matter of only heart or mind but a deliberate and often life-altering commingling of the two.

Frequently bought together

$11.69

Get it as soon as Monday, May 13

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

$12.90

Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

Sacred Nature: Restoring Our Ancient Bond with the Natural World

$15.38

Get it as soon as Monday, May 13

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

Choose items to buy together.

Karen Armstrong
316
Paperback
56 offers from $9.99
Karen Armstrong
795
Hardcover
94 offers from $1.74
Karen Armstrong
646
Paperback
91 offers from $1.27
Karen Armstrong
1,555
Paperback
371 offers from $1.35
Karen Armstrong
345
Paperback
146 offers from $1.92
Karen Armstrong
848
Paperback
61 offers from $1.99

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Rich with wisdom and provocative ideas that stimulate deeper thinking and encourage individuals to identify a particular contribution to the global effort.” —Christian Science Monitor

“Leaning on the wisdom of disparate faiths and belief systems, Armstrong lays out a pluralistic and, ultimately, secular way to spread compassion that’s easy to believe in.” —Washington Post

“Charming.... Exquisitely intelligent.” —Financial Times

“Impressive.... She seeks to retrain us from an ego-fuelled outlook of partiality and prejudice to an informed, expanded humanity.” —The Globe and Mail

“When I hear that Karen Armstrong, the widely respected religion scholar … has a new book called Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life, I figure it’s about big stuff—and she does not disappoint.” —Elle

“[An] important and useful book that will help many readers take on humanity’s most important task: creating a better, more compassionate world.” —Tricycle

About the Author

KAREN ARMSTRONG is the author of numerous other books on religious affairs—including A History of God, The Battle for God, The Case for God, Islam, Buddha, and The Great Transformation—and two memoirs, Through the Narrow Gate and The Spiral Staircase. Her work has been translated into forty-five languages. She has addressed members of the U.S. Congress on three occasions; lectured to policy makers at the U.S. State Department; participated in the World Economic Forum in New York, Jordan, and Davos; addressed the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington and New York; is increasingly invited to speak in Muslim countries; and is now an ambassador for the UN Alliance of Civilizations. In February 2008 she was awarded the TED Prize and recently launched with TED a Charter for Compassion, created online by the general public and crafted by leading thinkers in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion. She lives in London.

The author invites you to start a Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life Reading Group in your community, school, or workplace. An Organizer’s Guide, including tips for starting the group, discussion questions, sample promotional material, and more, can be found online.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Preface

Wish for a Better World

In November 2007, I heard that I had won a prize. Each year TED (the acronym for Technology, Entertainment, Design), a private nonprofit organization best known for its superb conferences on “ideas worth spreading,” gives awards to people whom they think have made a difference but who, with their help, could make even more of an impact. Other winners have included former U.S. president Bill Clinton, the scientist E. O. Wilson, and the British chef Jamie Oliver. The recipient is given $100,000 but, more important, is granted a wish for a better world. I knew immediately what I wanted. One of the chief tasks of our time must surely be to build a global community in which all peoples can live together in mutual respect; yet religion, which should be making a major contribution, is seen as part of the problem. All faiths insist that compassion is the test of true spirituality and that it brings us into relation with the transcendence we call God, Brahman, Nirvana, or Dao. Each has formulated its own version of what is sometimes called the Golden Rule, “Do not treat others as you would not like them to treat you,” or in its positive form, “Always treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself.” Further, they all insist that you cannot confine your benevolence to your own group; you must have concern for everybody—even your enemies.

Yet sadly we hear little about compassion these days. I have lost count of the number of times I have jumped into a London taxi and, when the cabbie asks how I make a living, have been informed categorically that religion has been the cause of all the major wars in history. In fact, the causes of conflict are usually greed, envy, and ambition, but in an effort to sanitize them, these self-serving emotions have often been cloaked in religious rhetoric. There has been much flagrant abuse of religion in recent years. Terrorists have used their faith to justify atrocities that violate its most sacred values. In the Roman Catholic Church, popes and bishops have ignored the suffering of countless women and children by turning a blind eye to the sexual abuse committed by their priests. Some religious leaders seem to behave like secular politicians, singing the praises of their own denomination and decrying their rivals with scant regard for charity. In their public pronouncements, they rarely speak of compassion but focus instead on such secondary matters as sexual practices, the ordination of women, or abstruse doctrinal formulations, implying that a correct stance on these issues—rather than the Golden Rule—is the criterion of true faith.

Yet it is hard to think of a time when the compassionate voice of religion has been so sorely needed. Our world is dangerously polarized. There is a worrying imbalance of power and wealth and, as a result, a growing rage, malaise, alienation, and humiliation that has erupted in terrorist atrocities that endanger us all. We are engaged in wars that we seem unable either to end or to win. Disputes that were secular in origin, such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, have been allowed to fester and become “holy,” and once they have been sacralized, positions tend to harden and become resistant to pragmatic solutions. And yet at the same time we are bound together more closely than ever before through the electronic media. Suffering and want are no longer confined to distant, disadvantaged parts of the globe. When stocks plummet in one country, there is a domino effect in markets all around the world. What happens today in Gaza or Afghanistan is now likely to have repercussions tomorrow in London or New York. We all face the terrifying possibility of environmental catastrophe. In a world in which small groups will increasingly have powers of destruction hitherto confined to the nation-state, it has become imperative to apply the Golden Rule globally, ensuring that all peoples are treated as we would wish to be treated ourselves. If our religious and ethical traditions fail to address this challenge, they will fail the test of our time.

So at the award ceremony in February 2008, I asked TED to help me create, launch, and propagate a Charter for Compassion that would be written by leading thinkers from a variety of major faiths and would restore compassion to the heart of religious and moral life. The charter would counter the voices of extremism, intolerance, and hatred. At a time when religions are widely assumed to be at loggerheads, it would also show that, despite our significant differences, on this we are all in agreement and that it is indeed possible for the religious to reach across the divide and work together for justice and peace.

Thousands of people from all over the world contributed to a draft charter on a multilingual website in Hebrew, Arabic, Urdu, Spanish, and English; their comments were presented to the Council of Conscience, a group of notable individuals from six faith traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism), who met in Switzerland in February 2009 to compose the final version:

"The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves.

Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.

It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

We therefore call upon all men and women

• to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion;

• to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate;

• to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures;

• to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity;

• to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.

We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community."

The charter was launched on November 12, 2009, in sixty different locations throughout the world; it was enshrined in synagogues, mosques, temples, and churches as well as in such secular institutions as the Karachi Press Club and the Sydney Opera House. But the work is only just beginning. At this writing, we have more than 150 partners working together throughout the globe to translate the charter into practical, realistic action.

But can compassion heal the seemingly intractable problems of our time? Is this virtue even feasible in the technological age? And what does “compassion” actually mean? Our English word is often confused with “pity” and associated with an uncritical, sentimental benevolence: the Oxford English Dictionary, for example, defines “compassionate” as “piteous” or “pitiable.” This perception of compassion is not only widespread but ingrained. When I gave a lecture in the Netherlands recently, I emphatically made the point that compassion did not mean feeling sorry for people, but the Dutch translation of my text in the newspaper De Volkskrant consistently rendered “compassion” as “pity.” But “compassion” derives from the Latin patiri and the Greek pathein, meaning “to suffer, undergo, or experience.” So “compassion” means “to endure [something] with another person,” to put ourselves in somebody else’s shoes, to feel her pain as though it were our own, and to enter generously into his point of view. That is why compassion is aptly summed up in the Golden Rule, which asks us to look into our own hearts, discover what gives us pain, and then refuse, under any circumstance whatsoever, to inflict that pain on anybody else. Compassion can be defined, therefore, as an attitude of principled, consistent altruism.

The first person to formulate the Golden Rule, as far as we know, was the Chinese sage Confucius (551–479 BCE), who when asked which of his teachings his disciples could practice “all day and every day” replied: “Perhaps the saying about shu (“consideration”). Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you.” This, he said, was the thread that ran right through the spiritual method he called the Way (dao) and pulled all its teachings together. “Our Master’s Way,” explained one of his pupils, “is nothing but this: doing-your-best-for-others (zhong) and consideration (shu).” A better translation of shu is “likening to oneself”; people should not put themselves in a special, privileged category but relate their own experience to that of others “all day and every day.” Confucius called this ideal ren, a word that originally meant “noble” or “worthy” but which by his time simply meant “human.” Some scholars have argued that its root meaning was “softness,” “pliability.” But Confucius always refused to define ren, because, he said, it did not adequately correspond to any of the familiar categories of his day. It could be understood only by somebody who practiced it perfectly and was inconceivable to anybody who did not. A person who behaved with ren “all day and every day” would become a junzi, a “mature human being.”

Compassion, therefore, was inseparable from humanity; instead of being motivated by self-interest, a truly humane person was consistently oriented to others. The disciplined practice of shu took you into a dimension of experience that was transcendent because it went beyond the egotism that characterizes most human transactions. The Buddha (c. 470–390 BCE) would have agreed. He claimed to have discovered a realm of sacred peace within himself that he called nirvana (“blowing out”), because the passions, desires, and selfishness that had hitherto held him in thrall had been extinguished like a flame. Nirvana, he claimed, was an entirely natural state and could be achieved by anybody who put his regimen into practice. One of its central disciplines was a meditation on four elements of the “immeasurable” love that exists within everyone and everything: maitri (“loving kindness”), the desire to bring happiness to all sentient beings; karuna (“compassion”), the resolve to liberate all creatures from their pain; mudita (“sympathetic joy”), which takes delight in the happiness of others; and finally upeksha (“even-mindedness”), an equanimity that enables us to love all beings equally and impartially.

These traditions, therefore, agree that compassion is natural to human beings, that it is the fulfillment of human nature, and that in calling us to set ego aside in a consistently empathetic consideration of others, it can introduce us to a dimension of existence that transcends our normal self-bound state. Later, as we shall see, the three monotheistic religions would arrive at similar conclusions, and the fact that this ideal surfaced in all these faiths independently suggests that it reflects something essential to the structure of our humanity.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Anchor; Reprint edition (December 27, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0307742881
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0307742889
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 0.63 x 7.95 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #399,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #193 in Religious Ethics (Books)
- #1,396 in Philosophy of Ethics & Morality
- #3,657 in Christian Self Help

Customer Reviews:
4.5 729 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Karen Armstrong

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Karen Armstrong is the author of numerous other books on religious affairs-including A History of God, The Battle for God, Holy War, Islam, Buddha, and The Great Transformation-and two memoirs, Through the Narrow Gate and The Spiral Staircase. Her work has been translated into forty-five languages. She has addressed members of the U.S. Congress on three occasions; lectured to policy makers at the U.S. State Department; participated in the World Economic Forum in New York, Jordan, and Davos; addressed the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington and New York; is increasingly invited to speak in Muslim countries; and is now an ambassador for the UN Alliance of Civilizations. In February 2008 she was awarded the TED Prize and is currently working with TED on a major international project to launch and propagate a Charter for Compassion, created online by the general public and crafted by leading thinkers in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, to be signed in the fall of 2009 by a thousand religious and secular leaders. She lives in London.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

729 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Judy LT

Spiritual Practice Towards Compassion

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2011

Verified Purchase

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit," said Aristotle some 300 years BCE. Karen Armstrong would add that a compassionate life is not a goal, or an achievement, but an ongoing spiritual practice. We need to make compassion a habit. And this practice, if it does not make perfect, at least will evolve us in a positive and much needed way.
The renowned author of over twenty books on religions of the world has now produced a passionate call to compassion. We need to heed the wisdom of the ancient sages of a wide range of religious and secular thought and apply a compassionate life to the complex circumstances of our own modern circumstances.

Ms. Armstrong's `Wish for a Better World" expressed in her acceptance speech for her 2008 TED prize was that the leaders of the world's religions draw up a Charter for Compassion that emphasized their shared core values of compassion and the Golden Rule. The resulting document, unveiled in 2009, is a jewel of concise wisdom compiled by a Council of Conscience from literally tens of thousands of submissions. Following the usual media dictum of `if it bleeds it leads', traditional media have largely ignored this event. It has none-the-less been affirmed online by over 79,000 people. A half a dozen cities, starting with Seattle, have proclaimed themselves Compassionate Cities. Well over sixty cities and regions, including the entire country of Canada, are listed on the International Institute for Compassionate Cities web site as being in the process of this declaration. [NAIN was an early partner of the Charter.]
The book is both scholarly and practical. Inspiration is drawn from a wide range of secular and spiritual sources - from Confucius and the Ancient Greeks to the Buddha and the Abrahamic prophets.

Societal development tends to follow a paradigm of progression - Individual survival [Four F brain - feed, flee, fight, procreate], Evolving into societies - cooperate for survival of the group, 4 F brain joined with new brain reason = Violence from struggle for power, Revulsion from violence = spiritual change

As humans develop a higher brain, the remnants of the Four F brain remain and may be evoked during power struggles, resulting in chaos and violence. Eventually, throughout history, repulsion to this violence has forced spiritual sages on a quest toward spiritual change.

Our current world situation reflects the third stage where violence is evoked by appeals to the Four F brain. We have made vast progress in scientific exterior realities, but we have not as yet evolved many contemporary sages. "Many people today would rather be right than compassionate."
Ms. Armstrong suggests that we have a choice - emphasize aspects of religious and secular traditions that speak of hatred, exclusion, suspicion or work with those that stress interdependence and equality for all.

She further upholds the value of mythos as used in all societies to teach universal realities. Mythos is not based on historic fact, but provides a kind of spiritual road map to to a higher consciousness. The hero mythos, eloquently described by Joseph Campbell, is exemplified by Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, Gandhi in their quest for a larger truth and a more fully-realized self.
The book outlines twelve steps towards the compassionate life which modern sages could use to heal the chaos of violence and power struggles. Compassion is definitely not painted as a fluffy, Pollyanna concept. Compassion is not pity, but the shared suffering of the other.

The steps are not easy. They imply a lifetime of learning and discipline, not very popular tasks.

Compassion for oneself is a necessary step. We live in a `me first' society that is, however, rife with self-doubt, guilt, eating disorders, and other neuroses. It is impossible to offer compassion to others if you have not first been compassionate to yourself.
Compassion requires a critical look at how much we do not know. A society which expresses opinions ad nauseum on talk shows does not often reflect on what it really knows about the other. We do not easily want to lose arguments, even if we do not know what we are talking about. We give lip service to interfaith dialog, but rarely know how to engage in real dialog, in which we might learn something and change a preconceived conception.

The twelve steps guide us on an ever widening circle of others to whom we practice offering compassion. It means resolving the intricacies of our closest relationships. How often it is hard to be compassionate to our families, our friends, and our co-workers! Then, the twelfth step seems hardest of all - love your enemies!
Indeed, a compassionate life might seem an impossible task. But Karen Armstrong encourages us to see the steps as an ongoing process. We must continually stretch ourselves to be more and more compassionate, while applying self-compassion when we fail. The wisdom of the sages is not an impossible aspiration. And, she urges, even if we only achieve a fraction of that enlightenment, we will have lived a more worthy life and left the world a little bit better.

I believe this book expresses a powerful, if not easy, prescription for the ills of our modern, violent world.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Dogearred Bookmarker

Not the usual Karen Armstrong

Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2014

Verified Purchase

As an armchair person interested in religion and spirituality, I have read and enjoyed many though not all of Karen's books. Usually her book are not for the faint of heart. The reading often is heavy going but rewarding. This book is different. Karen pulls from the heart of the matter in several different spiritual traditions to illuminate something they all have in common: compassion. What is even more surprising in that Karen gives the reader techniques to access compassion to put into practice what she preaches. When I first read the book, I found it disquieting that the each chapter got shorter and shorter and seemed more repetitive. Upon reflection and reading the book a second time, I realized that each chapter lays the foundation for subsequent chapters and that there are subtle changes in points of view as the practice of compassion is expanded outward. This book is more invitation to act than knowledge to put in one's head like Karen's other books. Nonetheless Karen does not shrink from the hard questions and hard work. This is a book I will read many more times and expect to get something each time. I have decided to join the men's group which is discussing this book. I first heard about the book in the announcement about the men's group. I should hasten to add that this is a book for everyone. I have also decided to join the Charter for Compassion group founded by Karen.

44 people found this helpful

Helpful

peter kim

How to be a better human

Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2012

Verified Purchase

This book is an excellent blend of faith, history, advice and manual. As a medical student, the title caught my eye since compassion is at the heart of my professional obligations. I highly recommend this book to anybody who laments the cynical sordid spectacle of modernity. The 12 step format is an excellent manual for making necessary adjustments to one's core attitude about life. A well-written book I recommend without reservation.

I purchased this volume used and it was a little more water-damaged than I expected (the only reason I did not give a 5/5 star rating)

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

david ney

should be required reading/study for every college student. The ...

Reviewed in Canada on October 23, 2015

Verified Purchase

should be required reading/study for every college student. The only problem is that if we lived around the wisdom Armstrong shares with us, there would not be jails, we would not need a military with war machines, far fewer lawyers would be needed, the earth would be healthier, people would not have to live in poverty, racial inequality would not exist..... All this could affect the bottom line on corporations and the market. We can't have that can we?

One person found this helpful

Eleanor Stoneham

Bringing Compassion back to the heart of life for a better world

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 11, 2011

Verified Purchase

Never before has compassion in religion been so sorely needed, we are reminded by this one time Roman Catholic nun, best selling religious historian and passionate campaigner for religious liberty. It would be difficult to disagree with this statement. But this is a book not just for the faithful religious. As she quotes the Dalai Lama as saying in his Ethics for the New Millennium (New York, 1999), p. 19: "whether a person is a religious believer does not matter much. Far more important is that they be a good human being."
And this book sets out to help us all be just that.
The book starts with a promotion of the Charter for Compassion, the brainchild of Armstrong, created and launched by her in 2009 with the help of TED (Technology Entertainment and Design known for its "Ideas Worth Spreading" conferences - and if you are not familiar with TED you should rectify that straightaway!). The Charter's aim is to bring compassion back to the heart of moral and religious life, and in involving the major faiths in its creation the Charter demonstrates that despite their differences the religions can work together for justice and peace. The Charter thus counters the voices of extremism, intolerance and hatred.
We are all invited to sign up to this Charter, to pledge our selves to a compassionate way of life, (although again this does not insist on us being religious, just compassionate) and this book is here to help us achieve this, to help us to translate the Charter into practical and realistic action across the globe.
The book is a self-help book that is very far from the self-interest genre that justifiably comes in for some criticism. This is a book to help save the world by healing our own behaviour, an idea very close to my own heart, as expressed in my own book, Healing This Wounded Earth: with Compassion, Spirit and the Power of Hope. As Armstrong points out, and as I have done before her, responsibility for this broken world has to start with the individual. We cannot expect our leaders to adopt humane and compassionate policies unless we change ourselves.
As given away in the title, this book is written along the lines of the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 point plan, and if we follow the steps carefully and diligently we will surely be able to modify our behaviour and the world will become a better more compassionate place. And we will certainly be happier. Armstrong has no illusions that this will be easy - it will be a lifelong process for us, as we will have to struggle all the way against self hatred and discouragement. But the steps are well explained, and supported with plenty of background information and encouragement at each stage. I was not absolutely sure about her explanations in the Preface of the evolution of the human brain - they may be viewed by the scientifically inclined as perhaps being a little too simplistic, but I do not think this matters to the overall theme. Suffice to say that it seems we may be hard wired for compassion as well as for cruelty and that is encouraging!
I heartily recommend the twelve-step process she outlines - to aspire to become truly compassionate persons. It is not, she assures us, beyond our capacity, but our vital work is indeed just beginning when we get to the last page of the book.

37 people found this helpful

Richard Anningson

great book

Reviewed in Canada on January 29, 2022

Verified Purchase

Personal development

JJRoy

Four Stars

Reviewed in India on November 27, 2015

Verified Purchase

Spiritually enriching reading

One person found this helpful

Self-help junkie

Brilliant overview of the need for compassion in all our lives.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2015

Verified Purchase

A VPB (very important book) in my opinion. Armstong's summary of the workings of the primitive brain, and how it so easily takes us away from anything resembling compassion, is masterful and worth the price of the book alone. I love the way she puts mindfulness (something of a plague at the moment!) into its proper historical and spiritual context, where is does not remain an end in itself, but instead a means to becoming more compassionate. Since reading this, I've joined Armstong's Compassionate Movement (details easily found on google) and wear a 'Compassionate It!' wristband to keep the concept in mind during the day.
Developing compassion is a life-long struggle for us all I think: at the current time, with refugees from Syria pouring into Europe, 'primitive brain' thinking - terrirotrial, me-first, fear-based - really can take over. It takes effort and courage to be compassionate - to 'do to others what you would want them to do for you'. So the book is challenging, but compassionate towards the reader too.
Highly recommended.

6 people found this helpful

See more reviews

Return this item for free

Return this item for free

Follow the author

Image Unavailable