Self Help, New Age, and Compassion

New Age and Self Help Books

Related to the Understanding of Compassion

Title: Why Good Things Happen to Good People: The exciting new research that proves the link between doing good and living a longer, healthier, happier life.
Author: Stephen Post & Jill Neiman
Publisher/Date: Broadway Book, 2007

Book Summary: This book is designed to be a self-help book more than a "scientific" book. Every chapter has examples, specific guidelines, and a self rating quiz. The central premise of the book is that "good things" means GIVING. "Giving is the most profound force on the planet". Ten ways of giving are outlined within four domains (family, friends, community, humanity). The ten ways are: celebration (gratitude), generativity (nurture others), forgiveness, courage, humor (lightness of being), respect (civility, tolerance), compassion, loyalty, listening (deeply), and creativity.

Comments: The book is laid out as sort-of a "cook book" on giving. The format is very categorized, and some beginner readers who want that recipe approach will find it useful. But this reviewer found that the empasis on fitting things into categories also meant leaving out overarching themes that might be quite important - for example the theme of proper intent. Each of the ten ways the book describes is shaped by intent. The section on compassion is quite weak, as also is the authors look into empathy. It seems to this reviewer that giving = meeting a need = knowledge of that need = empathy and its link to compassion. Again, a sequence of fundamental overaching themes that are related to "good things" and not well connected to all the ten ways described in this book.

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Comments below address the basic
assumptions of compassion -> -> -> ->