Joan Borysenko on Creating a Civilization with a Heart
As a biologist, psychologist, and spiritual educator, I have a few ideas I’d like to share with you. First, a little context. I belong to the one-third of the American public who identify themselves as spiritual rather than religious. That spirituality is deeply inclusive and centers on the heart teaching of all religions, which is compassionate action. My core Jewish heritage, for which I remain deeply grateful, speaks of our human purpose as tikkun olam—the healing of the world. My good friend, the late Brother Wayne Teasdale, might have called it “creating a civilization with a heart.”
Perhaps the seminal question of this century is “How can a global civilization with a heart be created?” Brother Wayne’s premise was that the mystic heart of all religions, beyond the externals of doctrine and dogma, is the same. Whether you are a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, Hindu, an indigenous person, or any other person of faith, the deepest experience of being human is compassion itself. The experience of connection with others, with the earth, and with a larger field of wisdom and love is what Wayne referred to as interspirituality. It is the common ground of shared humanity that can bring forth our collective potential.
I offer you a few suggestions to help in creating a civilization with a heart.
1. Compassion is a skill that can be taught both to adults and children. In March of 2008, Dr. Richard Davidson and his colleague Antoine Lutz at the University of Wisconsin at Madison published a study showing that compassion meditation changes the brain. In short, when a person focuses on generating feelings of well-being and on the freedom from suffering for others, scans reveal changes in areas of the meditator’s brain that engender compassion. In other words, compassion can be trained and hard-wired into one’s nervous system. The personal benefits of compassion meditation include greater perspective, increased happiness, and perhaps even the prevention of depression. The researchers hope to teach this form of meditation to adolescents as a way to promote cooperation and to mitigate bullying and violence at this critical developmental juncture. I believe that this non-religious form of meditation, with some adaptation, would be a fine addition to the curriculum of all schools, beginning in kindergarten.
2. Much of the world considers America a violent culture. Our entertainment media reinforces that stereotype. We need media with a positive, hopeful message that teaches values such as deep listening, tolerance, kindness, understanding, and care for others. American children watch an average of three to fours hours of television daily, much of which is violent. Hundreds of studies show that TV violence numbs children to the horror of abuse, death, and suffering. TV violence also teaches them that violence is a way to solve problems, and it creates negative “heroes.” Much of popular music is also violent. I believe that if there were enough positive alternatives, the problem of negative media could be substantially mitigated. Creating a series of prestigious national awards for those who produce positive music, art, television, theater, and motion pictures could help set the tone for a new genre of media.
3. We need a health care system driven by compassion and operated for the public good. Let me share a little from personal experience. A grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for tuition and living expenses enabled me to get a doctorate from Harvard Medical School. When it came time for postdoctoral training, the two NIH fellowships I was awarded had a payback stipulation. We had to work in the field for as many years as we had been awarded support. While I might have found more lucrative work elsewhere, the payback clause kept me in academic research, teaching, and hospital-based clinical practice. As a young person, giving something back felt just wonderful. Being of service is definitely good for health and well-being. And while there are a number of government health care training programs that work on the payback model, why not make this practice the norm rather than the exception? Without the burden of huge student loans, young health care professionals would be freer to practice the kind of patient-centered medicine that heals and, by the way, prevents lawsuits. While we’re on this topic, I would further suggest that the entire industry of litigation based on medical malpractice be eliminated. How to do that in a fair, effective manner, ensuring best medical practices, as well as the dignity of all concerned, is worthy of very serious investigation.
With thanks for taking the time to listen, and with great respect.
Joan Borysenko, Ph.D., is a Harvard-trained biologist, psychologist, and spiritual educator. A pioneer in mind/body medicine, she is also cofounder of the Claritas Institute for Interspiritual Inquiry, a bestselling author, and a journalist.
