Compassionate Life

This is a signed copy by the author of a limited edtion with hand stamped red lotus.

Marc Barasch takes us on a journey to the heart of compassion, posing vital questions along the way: What can we learn from exceptionally empathetic people? Can we increase our kindness quotient with practice? How do we open our hearts to those who do us harm? What if the great driving force of our evolution were actually "survival of the kindest?" His answers, filled with great storytelling, fascinating science, and deep spiritual wisdom, are never less than challenging and inspiring. A simple shift in consciousness, he says, ?changes pretty much everything.?

(NOTE: One dollar of each sale goes to plant a tree in Ethiopia via www.greenworld.org)

Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence: ?Marc Barasch stands out as a bard of the human heart, spinning a gripping, thought-provoking, and entertaining tale. Here is an essential guidebook for anyone who cares deeply about the human condition, and about how we can help each other find our way through with love and guts.?

Washington Post: ?Barasch shares with the best writers an ability to make you feel the excitement of discovery...[His book] will interest anyone who struggles to be kinder in a not-so-kind world.?

Publishers Weekly: ?Writing in a friendly, upbeat voice, Barasch is never pious as he ponders the meaning of compassion, its healing properties and the wisdom of the compassionate, from St. Francis and the Dalai Lama to caring individuals in [his] own life. Touching on psychology, social science and evolutionary biology, he explores his subject with lively firsthand reportage. The compassionate life is not only liberating, it genuinely feels good, he says. But how do we overcome our innately self-serving tendencies? Barasch finds among bonobo chimpanzees a model for caring group behavior that he believes undermines Darwin's evolutionary idea of the survival of the fittest. He reports on new research that shows how love and caring may actually drive the bodily system, and he converses with an extraordinarily altruistic kidney donor and a father who has forgiven the killer of his daughter. He also observes an Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative, and reconciliations in Rwanda. Melding accessible reportage with spiritual quest, Barasch's stirring account is thought-provoking and inspiring.?

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, columnist, blogger, author of Fanatics and Fools: ?Here is something refreshingly real, beyond right or left, just straight to the center of the human heart. If you want to help save the world today, then give someone--anyone--this startling, truthful, and passionate book.?

PAUL HAWKEN, author of Natural Capitalism and Blessed Unrest: ?[A] stupendous achievement, at once brilliant and touching. It delicately unravels the secret narrative of the hear with style, wit, and humor.?

LYNNE TWIST, author of The Soul of Money: ?Marc Barasch is one of America's finest writers--a revolutionary thinker who conveys an uncommon wisdom about the human qualities we all hunger to tap into. This impeccable work reflects the depth of his own life, and breaks new ground on an eternal subject with urgent relevance for our troubled times.?

RABBI MICHAEL LERNER, editor of Tikkun, author of Spirit Matters: "This book reminds us that kindness and compassion are not luxuries but the essential ingredients for our survival on this planet.?