Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Field Notes For A Compassionate Life
New Book from Rodale Explores Basic Human Goodness
What exactly is compassion? How can tapping into this single trait transform not only individual lives but the world at large? Author Marc Ian Barasch set out to answer these questions, exploring what he calls “the x-factor that every faith exalts as a supreme virtue.” What he discovered is recounted in fascinating detail in the new book, “Field Notes For A Compassionate Life: A Search for the Soul of Kindness” (Rodale Hardcover; March 28).
Archbishop Desmond Tutu said that Barasch’s book is, “An argument for compassion that is balanced yet persuasive, and long overdue. This book ought to be a compulsory read for all.” Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, said that “Field Notes For A Compassionate Life” is “an essential guide for anyone who cares deeply about the human condition. Barasch, an astute chronicler of our deepest potentials, proves our future may well depend on one thing: a regime change of the heart.”
Barasch ventured forth with an open mind, a healthy dose of skepticism, and an unfailing curiosity about the possibilities of what he might find—and their implications. Drawing from science and spirituality, history and popular culture, button-down business and a high sense of fun, Barasch has created a smart, provocative argument that a simple shift in consciousness can change who we are and the society we have become.
His hands-on fieldwork took him to a maximum-security prison in Georgia; from the streets of Denver (where he lived homeless for a week) to a conference at MIT with the Dalai Lama and neuroscientists to an encounter with the bonobo apes.
Marc Ian Barasch is the author of Healing Dreams, The Healing Path and the bestselling Remarkable Recovery. He has been an editor at Psychology Today, Natural Health, and New Age Journal. He has appeared on Good Morning America, Today, and NPR’s All Things Considered. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.
>From late March until the end of May, Barasch will be on a book tour visiting Minneapolis, Boulder, Denver, San Francisco bay area, Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and New York. Visit him online at www.compassionatelife.com. For requests involving interviews or review copies of the book, please contact: Josh Baran at 212-779-2666 or jcbaran@aol.com.
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