Resolution from the Board of Trustees

Charter for Compassion

With Brief Mission Statement & Vision Statement

December 12, 2022

Preamble 

In our traumatized world compassion in action is a luminous and dynamic force anchored in love and is the essential and catalytic ingredient to the creation of a just, peaceful, and sustainable world. 

Whereas the principle of compassion is at the heart of all the world’s wisdom, spiritual and ethical traditions, calling us all to deep listening, to treat others both as we wish to be treated and as they wish to be treated, and neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and the social sciences confirm that compassion is both innate and can be cultivated, 

Whereas compassion motivates us to alleviate the suffering of others, to honor and respect all life, and to treat everyone with justice, fairness, and respect that is born of our common humanity and our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to the future of humanity, 

Whereas the world is facing a crisis of increased polarization, systemic inequity, economic inequality, and indigenous oppression, and many are waking up to the prevalence of racism, prejudice, bias, and bigotry with violence toward people of different ethnicities, cultures, and faith traditions,  

Whereas we recognize that we are part of the natural world and that our environment is suffering irreparable damage, we now more than ever need environmental compassionate actions to avoid this existential threat and the extinction of all life,  

Whereas we know that compassion can be taught, trained, and cultivated and that there are extensive resources from both ancient traditions and current science and practice to guide us in developing more compassionate souls throughout our life spans,

Therefore, we the international Charter for Compassion hereby

• Commit to restoring compassion to the center of morality and social engagement and rejecting any practice that breeds violence, hatred, or disdain. 

• Commit to building a world free of exclusivist perspectives, including structural racism, racial prejudice, and to repairing the harm caused by colonialism, patriarchy, exclusivism, racial supremacy and other forms of persecution and oppression wherever they exist.  

• Commit to developing compassion in ever-widening circles, transcending our individual and collective self-centeredness thereby creating a society characterized by other-centeredness, care and concern for all with devotion to the common good. 

• Commit to the teaching, training, and equipping of future generations with the core value of compassion. 

• Commit to broadening our cultural perspectives by researching missing pages of history, transcending barriers of division that have become the norm, and to repositioning our individual and collective consciousness to bring about transformation. 

• Commit to acknowledging our responsibility and obligation to live in harmony and stewardship with all beings and to protecting all life on Earth and throughout our human planetary existence. 

• Commit to collaborating locally, nationally and globally so as to create a shared vision of a compassionate society, to working within our spheres of influence to build compassionate systems and cultures, and to openly sharing information and resources, so as to highlight best practices. 

Mission

Our mission is to promote and cultivate the principle of compassion and the Compassionate Way of Life as articulated by the Charter for Compassion so that the principle characterizes all human society and all relationships.

Vision

We envision a world in which the darkness of suffering is healed by the light of compassionate action; in which children and adults are literate and skilled in the transformative nature and power of compassion; and in which we treat ourselves, each other, and the natural world with dignity and respect, manifesting the Golden Rule in all relationships.