PEACE SIGNS
movement of COMPASSION
IT at www.compassionit.
com/programs
Empathy Rising!
by Dawn Shattuck
A
s one year ends and another begins we naturally
tend to reflect on where we have been. We continue
forward with the daily mind-numbing reports of terrorism,
abuse, homelessness, natural disasters, and other assorted
atrocities that challenge the moral fiber of any conscious
person. Add on top of this “stew” the incessant and toxic
political banter of a presidential election year and we have
a perfect storm for chronic pessimism. Even a hopeful
optimist like myself has days wondering if humanity has
completely lost its way.
We have to work hard every day to remain positive
in this caustic world. Still I believe we can right the ship
and overcome this tragic human mess with love, compassion, empathy and persistence. If we give up…who will
be left standing?
Whenever I become overwhelmed with the daily
deluge, I make myself take time to search for the good
works that people are doing. There really are an incredible number of people and organizations globally pushing
for a better world. Unfortunately, we just don’t hear about
much about their efforts via our traditional news media.
The following are some of my latest finds that shine
a light on beautiful examples empathy and compassion
in action across the globe. I hope that these clippings give
you hope, open your heart, inspire you to look further, and
motivate you to get involved!
l COMPASSION IT.
Stanford University has
launched a new social
movement called COMPASSION IT, training team
members to lead compassion, self-compassion and
mindfulness workshops
all over the world. They
are also working with
trained educators to inspire
students of all ages through
34 IMAGINE l SPRING 2016
If we are to teach
real peace in the world,
we shall have to begin
with the children.
- Mahatma Gandhi
their Elementary/Middle
School Compassion Education workshops. Students
are invited to join the social
l An Israeli cafe gives
Jewish-Arab customer
tables half off. A hummus
cafe in Israel posted an
offer on Facebook giving
a 50 percent discount to
tables mixing Jewish and
Arab diners. Kobi Tzafrir,
owner of Humus Bar in Kfar
Vitkin, hopes his campaign
will bring people together.
“With us we don’t have
Arabs! We also don’t have
Jews. With us, we’ve got human beings!” Tzafrir wishes
to demonstrate that there
are a lot of Arabs and Jews
who are not taking part in
the violent events reported
in the media.
l Building the empathy
superhighway. Carla Goldstein, an Omega faculty
member who teaches about
“spiritual activism,” claims
that by creating a global
network of people capable
of feeling the reality of
others, we can discover
creative ways to reconcile
our differences, heal past
traumas, and build a new
way of being together. We
can deepen our understanding of what it means
to be both unique individual beings and parts of
a unified organism. Worth
the read: www.kosmosjournal.org/news/building-theempathy-superhighway
l One Light Global, a
new bright star provides
assistance to refugees. One
Light Global is a nonprofit
humanitarian organization
bringing direct aid to war
refugees, creating platforms
for healing and successful new lives, and creating
peace and understanding
between groups in conflict.
Its founders believe that,
individually, we may not
know what we can do to
have a big impact in the
world, but in any moment
each of us can choose to
be a single light—a light of
compassion, kindness, courage, generosity—of love to
whomever is around.
www.onelightglobal.org
l Even rats have empathy! Researchers found
that if a rat is in distress in
water, another will save it.
For the experiment, a rat
was placed in a small pool
of water—rats are not fond
of water—while another
sat in a dry area, the two
separated by a door. The
dry rat soon learned that
it could rescue and free
the wet rat through the
door. Rats hurried to open
the door only if the other
animal seemed to be in real