How do you learn compassion? Can meditation teach you? Or does it have to come from your own suffering? Maybe a combination of both?

I know well how my own experiences of a broken heart have pierced the veil of selfishness and opened me to the needs, pain, and suffering others. But do we have to live with a broken heart to recognize and care deeply about others and our world?

One thing's for sure, our world needs a whole lot more compassion. And now a mounting pile of scientific evidence is lending weight to an assertion that monks and nuns from many traditions have made for centuries the key to happiness is not in getting for ourselves but in giving to others with a compassionate heart.

One brain imaging study even showed that the pleasure centers of our brain that light up with sex, dessert, and money are just as stimulated when we watch someone give money as when we receive money ourselves. Another study showed that giving and generosity is contagious.

On the whole, we Westerners are driven by achievement, competition, wealth, and recognition. You don't have to look too far to see that we haven't yet tapped into the extraordinary power of compassion to change our lives and our world for the better.

So where do we begin? How do we start to elevate our motivations and root ourselves (and our relationships) in a truly compassionate center of gravity?

In this episode of the OneMind Meditation Podcast, we explore this all-important topic of compassion with Tibetan Buddhist and long-time meditator Richard Klein. Richard has practiced meditation for several decades and trained in many traditions.

More recently, he started practicing Tibetan Buddhism and found himself moved and compelled by the "huge" emphasis they place on cultivating compassion. In this interview, Richard and I explore the role that meditation plays in the process and practice of Tibetan Buddhist meditation.

>If you enjoyed this podcast, you may also like our Meditation for Life Mini Course

(Photos Via Flickr: Ronai Rocha, Aaron Alexander, Susan von Struensee)

The post OM 020: Learning Compassion Through Tibetan Buddhism with Richard Klein appeared first on About Meditation.