Choosing Compassion: How to Be of Benefit in a World That Needs Our Love

Beloved Tibetan Buddhist teacher Anam Thubten shares how, by cultivating our practice of compassion, we can open our hearts and benefit the world.

We see so much pain and injustice in the world--from racial discrimination to environmental degradation. How can we make a positive difference? Beloved Buddhist teacher Anam Thubten invites us to deepen our practice of compassion. Through personal practices that expand our awareness of connectedness with the world, we will be able to act with courage for the benefit of all.

With characteristic warmth, Anam Thubten shares reflections, meditations, and practices that any reader--whether Buddhist or not--can embrace. He writes, "If our hearts are open and we can bear witness to the suffering around us, we will be able to act from that and help relieve suffering in whatever small or big ways we can. It will not be insignificant, and our compassion will include all beings no matter how small they are. Each compassionate act will change us and will expand our boundaries and show us what transcendence means. Then, we will begin more and more to lose the feeling that we are separate from everybody else. In this way, we can widen the circle of love."

Anam Thubten grew up in Tibet and at an early age began to practice in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He is the founder and spiritual advisor of the Dharmata Foundation, and he teaches widely in the United States and internationally. He is the author of No Self, No Problem; The Magic of Awareness; and Embracing Each Moment.