The Sciencization of Compassion
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The Sciencization of Compassion Julia Caroline Stenzel 1 Accepted: 28 September 2020/ # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Recent neuroscientific research has caused a paradigm shift in our understanding of the meaning and scope of compassion. Derived from the Latin root compassiō, compassion used to be a religious emotion that implied suffering with the perceived sufferer, whereas now it is examined as a psychological, neuroscientific, neurobiological, and thus natural, phenomenon. The newly arisen research interest in compassion led to the development of secular compassion training programs that follow closely in the footsteps of the “mindfulness revolution.” Whereas the latter has been criticized for its reductionist appropriation of Buddhist thought by the capitalist west, in this paper, I demonstrate that the secularization of compassion is the result of innovative activities by representatives of the Buddhist traditions. I argue that some of the causes for the recent secularization and sciencization can be traced back into the fourteenth century Tibet, namely to the innovative exegetical activities of the scholars of the Tibetan Lojong tradition. I argue that from the perspective of the tradition, the sciencization of compassion resembles a deliberate purposeful “translation” effort that fits into the “twotrack approach” of Buddhist propagation. Keywords Compassion . Secular . Compassion training . Lojong . Science . Śāntideva .
Bodhisattva . Transformation
The Sciencization of Compassion It is less than two decades ago that the general understanding of compassion underwent a paradigm shift: no longer an exclusively religious phenomenon, it came to be seen as a neuroscientific, psychological, and neurobiological phenomenon. It became scientifically measurable, trainable, and researchable. The work of neuroscientists Antoine Lutz and Richard Davidson played a pivotal role in the paradigm shift. In articles
* Julia Caroline Stenzel [email protected]
1
Kathmandu University, Centre for Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute, BagmatiKathmandu, Nepal
Journal of Dharma Studies
published in 2004 and 2008, they asserted to have been able to measure effects of compassion meditation on the brain, by means of electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) respectively (Lutz et al. 2004; Lutz et al. 2008). These revelations led not only to an invigorated scientific research on compassion but also to the creation of various compassion training programs. Similar to the secular mindfulness pedagogies, these training programs incorporated meditation techniques derived from Buddhist traditions but secularized for usage in clinical research, therapy and the booming wellness industry. Obviously, a paradigm shift is not brought about by a single event but is rather the final product of a long string of causes and conditions. In this paper, I will show that by analyzing the Buddhist roots of secular compassion training, we can trace some of the causes for the recent secul
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