Compassion manifesting in skillful means

In these times of escalating social strain, compassion is ever more crucial in keeping our communities together. 

Venerable Thubten Chodron was recently invited to contribute an article about compassion and skillful means as an expression of compassion to Mindfulness, a Springer Nature academic journal that explores the nature and foundations of mindfulness and its use across cultures.

We’re delighted to share her paper, “Compassion Manifesting in Skillful Means,” for free as part of the Springer Nature Content Sharing Initiative. Read it here.

You can read an abstract below. We hope this article will be a resource that brings benefit to you and all whom you are connected with.

Abstract for “Compassion Manifesting in Skillful Means”

By Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron 

Contemporary philosophers and scientists have been taking greater interest in compassion and skillful means  and devising programs to teach them. In light of the increase in violent actions and harsh and divisive speech in society today, these topics are of crucial importance. Buddhism has an abundance of teachings on compassion, skillful means, and methods to cultivate them. These “teachings from the East” can complement and enhance the Western approach to these topics. Having trained as a monastic in the Tibetan Buddhism tradition since 1977, I write from within the Buddhist tradition, sharing knowledge from source material in India and Tibet and oral teachings and explanations of Tibetan teachers. This article explains what compassion is and is not and how to cultivate compassion as taught in the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition. There are also recommendations on how to adapt traditional Buddhist compassion training to a secular environment.