About this blog
Compassion is ultimately logical. Religions have given it divine or mystical trappings, and that may be as much as some people need, but it also simply makes sense. It has to if it is truly at the heart of things, which we have acknowledged in one way or another across cultures through time. And since logic is the language least given to misunderstanding, it is the most appropriate for us today, since we have left or are leaving our mono-cultural ghettos behind. The world would undoubtedly be a better place if we saw that compassion for all of life was not an ideal or the preserve of saints but an inescapable conclusion. Our survival might even depend on it, perhaps urgently.
The main purpose of this blog is to explore an understanding of compassion that does not depend on religion, requires few if any assumptions and uses simple, clear language without technical twists and turns. But along the way, The Logic of Compassion also calls us to re-evaluate our concept of self-identity. I hope it provokes an interesting discussion.
About me
I’ve always had trouble figuring out what I wanted to do. I’m more interested in our place in the universe rather than my place in this little corner of it. So now I’m doing what I’m interested in. As for personal data, my name is Vince Giorno, and I was born in Philadelphia in 1957. I lived in the US until 1990, after which I went to Thailand and stayed. My wife is Thai, and we have 2 children.
About us
Now that you are here, let’s get a conversation going. Jump on in and help move things along. I can’t find many models for this kind of a project, so ideas on the matter under discussion or how to improve the format are more than welcome. Post comments and share links, or contact me at vince@logicofcompassion.com.
Vinny! Happy Birthday!
No, no, not compassion without religion; compassion using all religions! Look at Beatrice Bruteau’s work like Radical Optimism. She is a mystic like you!
Bob
Bob!! What a great present! And thanks for the recommendation. If you have any links to her stuff on the Web, post them so others can check them out too. I don’t see much difference between all religions and no religion, since I think there is a point beyond which they can be understood only in mythic terms. But at this point I don’t see the need for any of them. I’m trying to stake out yet another road, a modern myth perhaps, with the most minimal assumptions and requiring no debatable beliefs. Compassion is the center, and I think it is sufficient to remove the obstacles we construct, knowingly or unknowingly. Religions are fine vehicles for those who find them useful, but they have caused and still cause an awful lot of pain and suffering when wielded by those who see them as literal and hence attack or dismiss others who see things differently.