What Is Compassion?

A deficit of compassionate activity in the world today inspired Roshi Joan Halifax to ask some important questions: What is compassion? What is required for us to be able to act compassionately? And what gets in the way? Using research from the fields of neuroscience, social psychology, and contemplative traditions, she created G.R.A.C.E., a five-step practice that helps people from all walks of life cultivate compassion in real time. In this first lesson, we’ll receive an overview of the five steps of G.R.A.C.E. and explore the underlying qualities and capacities that make compassion possible. We’ll also review some common obstacles to compassion. 

In this lesson you will . . . 

• Learn the five steps of the G.R.A.C.E. practice for cultivating compassion
• Consider the four capacities we must have in order to exercise compassion
• Learn the six non-compassion elements that make it possible for compassion to emerge
• Explore common obstacles to compassion, including “edge states” such as pathological altruism, burnout, empathic distress, and moral suffering