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Compassion and empathy review

Chapter 33 review

Part of a series of talks based on An Open-Hearted Life given at Sravasti Abbey’s monthly Sharing the Dharma Day starting in April 2017. Co-written with clinical psychologist Dr. Russell Kolts, the book offers practical Buddhist and Western psychological approaches to developing compassion.

  • Empathy is a core component of compassion
  • Making an effort to understand the feelings and experience of others
  • Tips for developing empathic understanding
  • Empathy leads to compassion
  • How to show others you understand their experience
  • Reflection on empathy
  • Questions and answers

An Open-Hearted Life 40: Compassion and empathy review (download)

A guided meditation led prior to the talk can be found here.

Venerable Thubten Chodron

Venerable Chodron emphasizes the practical application of Buddha’s teachings in our daily lives and is especially skilled at explaining them in ways easily understood and practiced by Westerners. She is well known for her warm, humorous, and lucid teachings. She was ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1977 by Kyabje Ling Rinpoche in Dharamsala, India, and in 1986 she received bhikshuni (full) ordination in Taiwan. Read her full bio.