In the book, compassion and creativity are discussed in a series of accessible and conversational essays based on a conference at Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) in which five panels of scholars, writers, faculty and students focused on understanding how these two powerful concepts of creativity and compassion are related with special relevance to life in the 21st century. The book will then be used in conjunction with the appearance of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama at Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) in October 2012 whereby he will speak on the related topic of The Art of Compassion.
Topics covered include:
• What do the words compassion and creativity mean?
• How creativity and compassion interrelate
• Is compassion a creative process?
• The compassion of art: aesthetic distance and universality (nonattachment) about the tragedy, absurdity and comedy of the human condition
• Making connections: Facebook, Twitter, and Social Media: modes for spreading compassion or a wasteland of fabricated images and narcissism?
• Whether creativity and compassion are both present in the highest achievements of diverse fields
• Ways in which creativity and compassion may be applied in daily life, professional fields, and collective action
• How best to utilize the findings and proposed activities mined during the discussion for:
a) Framing the public talk by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Oct 18, 2012
b) Creating a new Center for the Advanced Study of Creativity and Compassion
Includes essays by, Robert K.C. Forman, Founding Executive Director of The Forge Institute for Spirituality and Social Change; Norman Carey director of the D.M.A. program in music performance at the CUNY Graduate Center; Peter Elbow Professor of English Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst; Tenzin Bhuchung a Buddhist scholar highly specialized in translating for Tibetan Buddhist lamas; John Amoroso an established transpersonal psychotherapist and educator on the faculty of Atlantic University and many others.
The book has been created in cooperation with WCSU and Do Ngak Kunphen Ling (DNKL) Tibetan Buddhist Center for Universal Peace in Redding, Connecticut.
