Passion for compassion

With the Charter for Compassion, Karen Armstrong challenged the world to bring the Golden Rule to the center of life. Learn about how her vision inspired Greg Fischer -- the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky -- to lead the city in fascinating new directions.

As a result of my studies,
I found a thread,

that the essence of religion
was compassion.

That every single one
of the major world religions --

Judaism, Islam, Christianity,
Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism ...

they all insisted on what's often known
as the Golden Rule:

never treat others as you
would not like to be treated yourself.

My wish was that you would get
a panel of activists

and together, we would craft
a charter, a brief statement

reminding the world that this
is what religion is about.

[Great big story
in partnership with TED]

Narrator: They had a big idea
to change the world.

But they couldn't do it alone.

(Voices overlapping)
So, my wish ... My wish ... I wish ...

And now, here's my wish.

[Torchbearers]

[Ideas in action]

(Shouting, fire crackling)

KA: Our nations seem
to be crumbling by the day.

And this should make us uncomfortable.

We've all got huge problems in our cities.

Problems of inequity
and cruelty and violence.

So, what can we do?

What can we do to change things?

Every city has to be compassionate.

And people often ask me,
what should a compassionate city be like?

And I said,

"Well, a compassionate city
should be an uncomfortable city."

One is Louisville, Kentucky,
where the mayor, Greg Fischer,

actually campaigned
on the idea of compassion.

[Greg Fischer, mayor of Louisville, KY]

Greg Fischer: When I announced
compassion as a city value,

it got a lot of attention.

A city is a platform
for human potential to come alive.

Compassion makes individuals stronger
and makes our city stronger.

KA: People just can't call themselves
a compassionate city,

unless they've got a practical
course of action.

GF: So the questions then is,
how do you bring compassion to life?

How do you change
the culture of your city?

What if you could start at the beginning
of a young child's life?

(Clock ticking)

My name is Meghann Clem Mattingly.

I am the Compassionate
Schools Project teacher.

Compassion is a very teachable thing.

OK, I see a lot of friends
who are looking ready.

Every CSP class begins
with calming and focusing.

And then we have some sort
of core practice that we're doing

whether we're talking about
self-awareness or empathy-building skills.

We are starting at the ground level,

we're building that foundation
for our students at age five and up,

to be more compassionate citizens.

Kid: Leave me alone!
MCM: Jeremy.

Look at Ms Mattingly, Jeremy.

Jeremiah: Just go, count me out.

MCM: Jeremiah, we're going to try harder
to get our self-regulation back, sir.

Jeremiah: This is the second
reason I hate my life.

MCM: Jeremiah, come here,
I need you to tell me more about that.

MCM: Anger or frustration,
which feeling was bringing --

Anger, I can tell. Look at your hands.

So, before we talk about it,
can you calm yourself down?

No? it's hard to, isn't it?

Can you try to make your hands
look like mine?

Look.

Can you try to let go of that?

Look at your face, I see a smile there.

You're trying real hard
to hang on to that anger.

I see every day these changes
happening in these students.

And I have all the hope in the world

that this project
will change our education.

GF: We define compassion as respect
for each and every one of our citizens

so that their human potential
is flourishing, thriving.

(Many voices) Grant me the serenity
to accept the things that I cannot change,

the courage to change
the things that I can

and the wisdom to know
the difference, just for today.

Keep coming back, it works.

GF: Hotel Louisville is a great example
of how to think about a whole system

of getting a person back on track.

So it's a shelter
for women and their families,

but it's also an operating hotel.

Cynthia Brown: Hotel Louisville
was not just a women's rehab facility,

it is a workforce program.

We run the hotel, we do all the jobs here.

Every job that one of us has
has their own individual skills.

It gets us a sense of responsibility,

because we can put this
on our resumes when we leave.

I think the compassion really comes
from the girls that are in the rehab

because we depend on each other a lot.

We need each other.

(Overlapping voices)

If I was not here at Hotel Louisville,
I would be sitting in jail, doing my time.

I was given that chance.

And I just -- I want to live,
I want to live life.

[Remind yourself: You can do this
You are a good person]

GF: It lifts us all up to say,
this is the kind of city we are,

and this is the kind of city
we aspire to be.

And that any way we can help other cities

and take us to even greater heights
is what we want to do.

It's this ripple effect;
we're not perfect as a city,

but boy, we're working
to be better every day.

KA: Here you have a city which
is doing great things with compassion.

Cities and mayors are going to play
an important role

as leaders of the future.

I'd like to see a thousand
compassionate cities in the next decade

that remind the rest of the world
what our duty is.

Always treat all others
as you'd like to be treated yourself.

[Share and sign
the Charter for Compassion]

[CharterForCompassion.org]