Last Saturday, we had the privilege of hosting Awakin Call with Timothy Harrison.

Timothy Harrison of Emory University's Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics currently serves as the associate director for Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT). Inspired by the works of His Holiness, the XIV Dalai Lama, the Center offers programs focusing on the interdisciplinary investigation and application of compassion in secular contexts. Tim oversees the teaching and research programs of CBCT. He teaches the program regularly at colleges of medicine, law, and spiritual health, and in the Atlanta Public Schools, and he guides the CBCT teacher certification. Tim also contributed to founding SEE Learning (Social Emotional and Ethical Learning), a framework for teaching compassion-based ethics in K-12 schools. A longtime practitioner of both lo jong and Zen meditation, he initially learned to meditate by stumbling into Kopan Monestary in Nepal after a hiking trip was cut short due to a bout of illness.

We'll post the transcript of the call soon, but till then, some of the nuggets that stood out from the call ...

• “The principle that the way we think about the world results in the way we feel is part of every wisdom tradition”
• “Our first impulse is that to feel better we must change the external circumstance. But the truth is there are things you can change about your internal orientation”
• "To realize, relief for myself is related to how I relate to others"
• “Compassion is about an individual's relationship to the other person, the individuals capacity to care for others and be concerned for their happiness, health and freedom from distress”
• “A parent is the archetype for compassion.”
• “Why do we use the word "training"? Compassion is a natural part of being human...but what takes training is to extend the compassion beyond people we are conditioned to have compassion for”
• “Humans have a difficult time being happy by themselves, without knowing how they are affecting others”
• “There is this illusion that what is most important about my life is what I accomplish, and my image vs. what I offer to the world”
• “Self-compassion goes beyond self-care, it's about getting better at accepting when things are not going well.”
• “Ask the question - how does my belief system help me be more compassionate?"
• “The most important person to have compassion for is the person sitting across from your right now.”
• From Shanti Deva (1400 years ago): “If my problem has a solution, then why do I worry? If my problem has no solution, then what is the benefit of worrying?"
• Resources
  Compassion education for children: seelearning.emory.edu
  CBCT: compassion.emory.edu
  West Coast: Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT)