A friend shared this educational video from TED talks on Animal Morality. The TED talk summary states “Empathy, cooperation, fairness and reciprocity — caring about the well-being of others seems like a very human trait. But Frans de Waal shares some surprising videos of behavioral tests, on primates and other mammals, that show how many of these moral traits all of us share. In the midst of being “time-challenged” with seeing patients, I wanted to just quickly share this heart touching, hopeful, promising video of how humans can choose to act rather than some of the more violent, greedy behavior that seems to be in the news so frequently.
I am about to participate in a two day conference at Western Connecticut State University with Buddhist scholars, faculty and students on April 20 and 21, titled “Creativity and Compassion”. It is part of a preparation for a visit from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Based on the integration of my personal journey and my professional journey, I will be part of a panel discussion titled “The Art of Compassion: bringing creativity and compassion to the ordinary tribulations of daily life. It is heartening to see how compassion, empathy, creativity, are being recognized as essential behaviors as we choose to evolve to a more conscious world, all working together for the benefit of the common good.
Enjoy this educational video and recognize we all are able to make choices regarding our behaviors. Let us choose ones that are moral and for the benefit of all beings!
