The Compassion Revolution

Introduction Two years ago I quit my job. I used to be a high school teacher. I always wanted to be a teacher, because I really loved kids. But soon enough I realised, that loving can be quite hard if you constanly have to judge and evaluate and tell children what to do. Even though I really did my best to teach interesting classes, and much as my students and the school staff told me I was doing a great job, I was left deeply unsatisfied of the job. I realised I just wanted to give unconditional love and acceptance, and did not want to be caught up in the constraints of the system. And so I started longing to live in a community life again. I had lived in community before – I used to be an intern in Plum Village , a Buddhist monastery in the south of France – and I realised that was the only time in my life where I felt real unconditional love and acceptance. In community, we can just be ourselves, and just love each other for who we are, without having to worry about complying ...