Twelve steps to a compassionate life - Karen Armstrong

"Karen Armstrong [is] the voice of the new compassion.

The former nun's writings about God and society upset some, but her ideas are becoming increasingly influential... Armstrong's charisma and sense of humour have helped her step on to the world stage as a benign Henry Kissinger, equipped with the trace outline of a wimple, if not a halo."

-VANESSA THORPE, The Observer (London)

ne of the most original thinkers on the role of religion in the modern world-author of such acclaimed books as A His-

tory of God, Islam, and Buddha-now gives us an impassioned and practical 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, in this straight-forward, thoughtful, and thought-provoking book, 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, suffer-ing, 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." Through-out, 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