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Vancouver Peace Summit

Watch Karen Armstrong live from the Vancouver Peace Summit

Sunday, September 27 1:00-3:30 PDT


TED Prize winner Karen Armstrong joins four Nobel Peace laureates, including the Dalai Lama, Jody Williams, Mairead Maguire and Betty Williams, moderated by Mary Robinson, at the Dalai Lama Center’s Vancouver Peace Summit to introduce the story of the Charter for Compassion and discuss their experience of compassion in their own lives – and their perspectives on our human responsibilities right now.


The TED Prize is presented to three individuals each year to support an idea that can change the world. In 2008, Karen Armstrong, author and religious historian, received the Prize, and was asked to make one wish. Her wish was for TED’s assistance in the creation, launch, and propagation of a Charter for Compassion. The writing began in November 2008 through a global website which allowed people everywhere to submit their ideas to the Charter. Then the Council of Conscience, made up of religious scholars and thinkers from six religions, sorted through these words to craft the final version of the Charter, which will be unveiled to the world in a spectacular way on November 12, 2009.


On September 27, coinciding with the Nobel laureates in dialogue, a new version of CharterforCompassion.org will launch, inviting the world to participate in the November 12 launch of the Charter.

More information on this page.  I will be there and I would love to hear from others who have watched this event.

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Compassionate Actions

“If you want others to be happy…practice compassion.  If you want to be happy…practice compassion.”  Dalai Lama
There are some very positive things we can do to demonstrate our compassion, as simple as a hug or a card / note, a small gift or other larger action when we fix a broken situation.  Other actions have just the opposite effect.  When someone hits, pushes ignores, roll their eyes or just refuses to recognize the pain of another, these actions are just as hurtful even if no words are spoken.  Have you ever seen someone suffer because of another’s action?  What did you do?
While words can be very harmful, so can our actions.   And an inaction can be just as harmful as action.  As a compassionate person our words and actions have power.  It has been studied and shown that in schools where there is a process in place for ‘bystanders’ to report or who stand up to bullies, the bullying problem is reduced.  Standing by and watching someone be hurt by words or actions with out taking a stand has an effect on others.
Have you ever done something for someone else that made them feel great? Has anyone ever done something for you that made you feel great?
Positive words and actions have a big effect on others and ourselves.