Moving Toward Global Compassion

Paul Ekman is the worlds foremost expert on facial expressions and is a psychologist at the University of California in San Francisco. In some ways, this book builds on the concept of the global ethic formulated for the centenary of the World Parliament of Religions in 1993. It also reflects a profound engagement with Buddhism and dialogues with the Dalai Lama. It begins by asking if global compassion is achievable, making an important distinction between two different types of compassion: proximal in relation to someone in the moment, and distal, which is aimed at avoiding suffering in the future. The expression of global compassion reflects our global interconnectedness and interdependence, but lags a long way behind except in expressions following a global emergency. Ekman analyses the immediate benefits of compassion in terms of impassioned joy based on a resonant emotional recognition similar to my own concept of empathetic resonance. We can gradually expand our compassion from familiars to strangers and even heroic interventions to save the life of another. The development of a calm mind is also important, emphasised in conversation with the Dalai Lama towards the end of the book. He also stresses the importance of detachment and spiritual practice as well as questioning our motivation. An important contribution to the field.