A brief discussion of the reality that compassion is a central component of almost every religion. How neuroscience and neurophysiology have demonstrated the beneficial effects of both compassion for others and compassion for self. Why compassion is needed more than ever in modern Western society.
Dr. James R. Doty
James R. Doty, M.D., is a neurosurgeon and neuroscientist who has had a faculty position at Stanford University since 1997. He is the founder and director of the Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) of which His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the founding benefactor. Dr. Doty is also the senior editor of the Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science. Through CCARE, he has developed programs, techniques and interventions that are taught throughout the world to promote connection, mental health and to decrease stress and anxiety including the Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) and Applied Compassion Training Programs that are taught throughout the world. His research is cited extensively in the lay press, textbooks, and peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Doty is also the New York Times and international bestselling author of Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart and the soon to be released book, Mind Magic: The Neuroscience of Manifestation and How It Changes Everything. He is the former chairman of the Dalai Lama Foundation, vice-chairman of the Charter for Compassion and has been a senior advisor to the Council of the Parliament of the World’sReligions.
