Today, TED and Karen Armstrong unveil the ‘Charter for Compassion’

Today is a very special day for those who cherish the idea of compassion. 172 events and almost 30,000 people around the world are celebrating. Today, November 12th, 2009, marks the debut of The Charter for Compassion, a manifest idea that began as a wish for peace and understanding that Karen Armstrong, author of more than 20 books on religion and faith, made in 2008. Since then the TED prize organization has helped build it into a reality.

Each year TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment & Design), the 25 year old high-impact, nonprofit organization picks three “prize” winners. The TED Prize is an annual award to three individuals, granting their “One Wish to Change the World.” The winners receive $100,000 and support from the TED community’s exceptional array of talent and resources. After months, if not years, of preparation, the winners unveil their wish at an award ceremony held during the TED Conference.

Karen’s wish:

I wish that you would help with the creation, launch and propagation of a charter for compassion, crafted by a group of inspirational thinkers from the three Ambrahanic traditions of Christianity, Judeaism and Islam based on the fundamental principle of the Golden Rule.

The Charter for Compassion is based on treating all others as we wish to be treated. While Armstrong’s original wish was just to create a charter with the three Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, TED expanded the Charter to include all modern religions with the aim to bring compassion back to the epicenter of faith because this message resonates with spiritual practices all over the world.

20 days before the unveiling of the Charter, TED’s Prize Director Amy Novogratz brought together a small gathering on October 23rd at ABC Carpet & Home in NYC. “Something is fundamentally wrong right now,” says Novogratz, “In a time of commercial globalization, what we really need is spiritual globalization…and compassion is not just for the religious.”

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf gave the first TED talk that night telling the crowd that in order to let compassion in we must get our egotism out of the way. Rauf defines God, the creator, quoting Sir Richard Burton, as the “Compassionating Compassionate.”

“A spiritual moment is when the boundaries of your ego dissolve. You feel interconnected to everything around you… You feel you are in the complete presence of love.”

-Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf

Robert Wright, author of the Moral Animal, spoke next. Did you know that compassion is a gene’s way of helping itself? Yes, according to Wright we are genetically predisposed to compassion. The bad news is, we tend to deploy compassion selectively. If we want to reduce the amount of people burning flags, it helps to understand what it is that makes them do such things. Our fates are correlated, and while it will take real work, if we can extend compassion beyond our immediate family we better all of humanity.

The last performance, by singer songwriter Nora York brought the last of the dry eyes to tears.

Armstrong, a former Catholic nun, began seriously studying other traditions after visiting Jerusalem, and realized that “belief” is only a very recent religious enthusiasm. The word “belief” itself originally meant to love or to hold dear until the 17^th century when it took on an intellectual state. “If religion is not about believing things what is it about?” She says, “It’s about behaving differently.”

To Buddha, it is compassion that brings one to Nirvana. Once we get rid of ego then we are ready to see the divine.

Confucius says, “Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.”

The traditions insisted that you cannot confine your compassion to your own group, but you must have concern for everybody. Jesus said, “Love your enemies.”

“We formed you into tribes and nations,” says the Koran, “so that you may know one another.”

This week, my yoga teacher told us that we are comprised of all things. We are kind, but we are also one part bitch. We are smart, but we are also capable of being stupid. We are open-minded and sincere, but we are also judgmental and dishonest, etc. This inherent duality is what enables us to feel for others; to have compassion.

Armstrong acknowledges that much war and violence has stemmed from religion. But she believes that religion is a kind of fault line and when a conflict gets ingrained in a region, religion can get sucked in and become part of the problem. “A lot of religious people prefer to be right rather than compassionate,” she says. Armstrong’s work aims to educate people and stimulate compassionate thinking. The Charter is a reminder to all of the cultures and religions of the world that we already share the core principles of compassion.

Compassion, this is the word of which everyone has to remind themselves. Throughout the centuries, humans were one of the most cruel, harsh animals on the Earth. There was time when they spilled blood without a reason. There was a time when a small gunfire drove many countries to the war. There was time when millions of innocent souls died by a single press of button. We overcame every single problems that we faced. But we are having greater conflict ahead. Now, it is time to make some changes with care, kindness and motivation. Compassion, this is what we need.

- Ho June Chun, Agnostic/Athiest, Afghanistan

This compassionate feeling is what drives us to act and it is in acting that we are free. We may not be able to measure the results of our individual action but as a group we shall surely be able to help humanity and in helping humanity we are also helping ourselves and providing for a sustainable future.

-Chandrabhan Sharma, Hindu, Trinidad and Tobago

As technology brings us closer to one another it becomes more obvious that compassion as a catalyst for exercising love is the single most important characteristic to be nurtured by any society. It is the trait of harmonious coexistence, preventing and stopping war and bloodshed, helping the poor and broken, mending dispute and also spiritual insight. It is the responsibility of all in society who work with shaping people to promote and strengthen compassion and love in one another, to encourage greater understanding and tolerance and to praise helpful and unselfish acts of love.

-Carsten Nørgaard, Christian, Denmark

See a complete list of Charter partners here.

See Armstrong’s article in yesterday’s Guardian. If compassion is the greatest idea humans ever had, than hers is an idea worth spreading. Add your name to the Charter here.