The Two Psychologies of Compassion: Exploring the Nature of Humanity

1. Spirituality, Humanity and The Nature of CompassionProfPeter Gilbert Memorial Lecture 21st MayPaul Gilbert PhD. FBPsS, OBEwww.compassionatemind.co.ukwww.compassioantewelbeing.com

2. Prof Peter Gilbert15 April 1950 - 12 December 2013

3. Prof Peter Gilbert • Peter was a founder members of The National Spirituality and Mental Health Forum with eighteen other trustees • The Forum was given a three year grant from the Department of Health in April 2009 and Peter was the Projectlead – which he continued on a voluntary basis when the grant ended • He was open about his own personal issues and dedicated to gaining recognition for the importance of peoples’ spiritual needs, yearnings and helpfulness in mental health – and how these should always be rooted in a deep sense of compassion for the human condition

5. Begun whilst still running marathons and finished with determination when ill

6. The Two Psychologies of Compassion Compassion can be defined in many ways but focuses on two key psychologies: As a sensitivity to the suffering of self and others with a deep commitment to try to relieve and preventit Two different Psychologies To approach, understand and (how to) engage with suffering - looking into its causes - COURAGE To work to alleviate and prevent suffering – work to acquire wisdom and skills - DEDICATION Each more complex than might at first seem

7. Mental Health • Compassion is the central motivation to address Mental Health • Not just in the sufferer but those who cause it – who undermine the well being of other • That links compassion to a moral dimension

8. Peter was always interested in the the Big QuestionsThe Nature of reality and How we fit into itCentral to Compassion

9. The Implications of Evolution and the Nature of Sufferingfor the Spiritual Mind

10. Core Issue Our troubles......arise from the fact that we do not know what we are and cannot agree on what we want to be. The primary cause of this intellectual failure is ignorance of our origins. We did not arrive on this planet as aliens. Humanity is part of nature, a species that evolved among other species. The more closely we identify ourselves with the rest of life, the more quickly we will be able to discover the sources of humans sensibility and acquire the knowledge on which an enduring ethic, a sense of preferred direction, can be built. (E.O. Wilson, 1992 p. 332).

11. Humanity is part of the flow life -- 99% of all species that have existed are extinct

12. Compassion begins with a reality checkInsight builds wisdom We are gene-built - with evolved brains designed to struggle to survive, to want, grasp and avoid pain We are all born, grow, decay and die - and are susceptible to many diseases and injuries – life with tragedy – pain and suffering – more than impermanence We are socially shaped – from our gene expressions, to our sense of self and values – baby kidnap

13. Why Compassion? Compassion is helpful and is associated with well-being and moral behaviour – and therapy Deeper Level There is something terrifying and deeply tragic at the heart of human existence There is anger, fear and grief that we are normally dissociated from – until it knocks on our door Terror management with dissociation from reality is normal but a deeply problematic human way of dealing with reality

14. The brain itself is our biggest challenge!!!

15. The human brain is the product of many millions of years of evolution– a process of conserving, modifying and adapting

16. Tricky Brain and its problematic loops Old Brain Functions Motives (harm-avoidance, food, sex, caring, status) Emotions (anger, anxiety, sadness, joy) Behaviours (fight, flight, shut down, courting, caring)

17. New Brain Troubles Self-monitoring Self-criticism Fearful Imagination Fear of feelings Emotional avoidance Shame – sense of inferiority Rumination

18. Tricky Brain and its problematic loops New Brain Competencies: Imagine, Plan, Ruminate, Self-monitor, Self-identity Old Brain Fucntions Motives (harm-avoidance, food, sex, caring, status) Emotions (anger, anxiety, sadness, joy) Behaviours (fight, flight, shut down, courting, caring)

19. Sometimes unhelpful imagining worst outcome self-criticising dwelling etc… New brain New brain New brain Emotion level Time Old brain

20. A mind that does not know itself Dangerous, Cruel and Crazy Mind?

21. Built in Biases Compassion insights Biased learning – e.g., fear of snakes not electricity Biases can be implicit (non-conscious) or explicit (Conscious) Self-focused Kin preferences – (nepotism) In-group preferences – (tribalism)

22. Cruelty and Callousness The deliberate causing of harm/suffering to another either for pleasure, personal benefit or social conformity Torture Slavery Women as property – subservient Chinese foot binding, FGM, Domestic violence, rape. 50%+ of children from some inner cities show high rates of PTSD symptoms with a range of health and learning effects (Horowitz, McKay & Marshall, 2005)

23. Compassion: Can we recognise that through our own actions or inactions we can be contributors to our own and other people’s suffering?

24. Compassion and SpiritualityExploring spirituality and its relation to suffering

25. New Spiritual Focus Alistair Hardy explored lived experiences Have you ever been aware of, or influenced by a power, whether you call it God or not, which is different from your everyday self Expansiveness - beyond the self or current reality Connectedness - peacefulness Environment and sensory cues Reorganises self-values

27. Spirituality • A sense of transcendence that extends beyond self • A source of personal meaning in life and self-identity • A connection and part of something greater than oneself • A sense of a presence of a unifying force or energy

28. Religion and Spiritualities The word religion comes from the Latin religiere meaning to reconnect Religious schools and beliefs focus on forms of connectedness and meaning Forms of connectedness are shaped via innate mechanisms for understanding social roles –often tribal God images shaped by socio-economic processes –e.g., help in warfare or nurture harvests.

29. What Shapes the forms of Religion and Spiritualities? Heath, Bell and Sternberg (2001) point out that to adopt a belief system, like a belief in witchcraft, God, the value of spirituality or the power of compassion, the focus must be on something that is relevant to a person and have certain qualities and functions Public engagement Personal endorsement Nature of threat (physical, isolation, meaning, control)

30. Religion and Spiritualities * Usually contains messages about types of threat and how to deal with them (e.g., have to develop a relationship with ‘deities to win them over) * Is transpersonal (affects others) * Must fit with the ecological needs of the group (e.g., developing beliefs in Gods of the sea are relevant to sea farers but not land locked peoples) * Guides social behaviours and informs rituals which are emotionally textured, and provides a sense of group coherence and belonging (believing in the same things)

31. Spiritualities are Placed in Historical and Cultural Contexts Soul Concepts –Relational (Single or Multiple Gods) Vedic tradition Life as a journey - soul progresses/evolves via learning via trails -- re-incarnation Arabic tradition World is where one is tested: Good go to heaven and bad are punished Greek/Roman We are play things of the Gods: can aspire to join the elite – nice and unpleasant places after death ChristianityIntroduces family and attachment psychology. Here is suffering Home is Heaven Buddhism Karma and rebirth: Pantheism God Consciousness pervades all - Material world (including humans) are patterns of its form. Ripples on the lake; snowflakes

32. God AS….. God as beyond human reason and human understanding - the unknown (as in Aristotle) versus God as human-like with feelings, passions and desires - issue of projection vs empathy God as awakening via the consciousness of humans (as in Jung) versus God as already fully formed and conscious and in the process of revealing him/herself tous God as accessible only via deep mediation, intuition and mystical knowledge versus God who relies on science, reason and philosophy to reveal him/herself God as a personal and available deity with whom we can personally relate versus God as an impersonal, pantheistic force (as in Star Wars movies; or Buddha consciousness)

33. God as a Performer of Functions Social Regulator (social function) Law giver/judge Leader/protector Ultimate authority/power to reward/punish The more threatened groups feel the more submissive behaviour and obedience dominates the forms Personal Self/Object (personal function) Father Soother Saviour Blade Runner – kill the creator Jung “save us from what”

34. Buddhism • No Deities • Law of cause and effect - Karma • The nature of impermanence • Consciousness as pure • Training the mind

35. Pain and suffering • Many explanations for pain and suffering: Suffering is punishment (Genesis); as a test; as karma; as ‘bad luck’ • Western Science - addresses pain directly, find source and cures – Anaesthetics is a great gift. Many diseases are now treatable. Increase pleasure and comforts • Eastern approaches focus on suffering as linked to how we deal with pain and grasp after pleasures –role of mind • We are moving to a scientific integration – all focused on understanding the nature of suffering and what to do about it

36. The core driver of human evolution was Social Relating • We relate for many reasons – status, friendship/co-operation, caring and sex • Attachment – proximity seeking, secure base and safe haven • Belonging – self-identity and social values • Spiritualities offer forms of relating that can be textured by all our social/relating needs/motives • Compassion is form of relating linked to caring motives

37. The Two Psychologies of Compassion Compassion can be defined in many ways but focuses on two key psychologies: As a sensitivity to the suffering of self and others with a deep commitment to try to relieve and preventit Two different Psychologies To approach, understand and (how to) engage with suffering - looking into its causes - COURAGE To work to alleviate and prevent suffering – work to acquire wisdom and skills - DEDICATION Each more complex than might at first seem

38. The dark side of religion and spirituality What states of mind generate different spiritualities and religions?

39. God as Threat • Early ideas of God as vengeful and fear of authority – • Sets the social context for God to be used as a punishing authority and gives power/status to those who can use God as a threat (or promise)

40. A Submissive Strategy Powerful Other(s) (Gods) (harmful and/or protective) Appease, submit, comply (sacrifice) Harmful things (still) happen Sense of aloneness Self-monitor Self-Blame May also blame others for non-compliance for upsetting the dominant (Persecute)

41. The changing nature of God(s) • Early human societies wereoften polytheistic • Gods had complex, changeable personalities, could be kind or cruel • The emergence of a supreme omnipotent deity meant that they had to be seen as good – so there needed to have someone else who was bad, or who could deal with the bad • This resulted in a kind of splitting into extremes, and a splitting of power and influence over humankind

42. Sins and punishments – the rule of terror

43. - Caste out – unloved unwanted shamed A core issue in mental health

44. Compassion and cruelty(Gilbert 2005) To understand compassion requires us to understand how compassion gets turned on and off, people can literally dissociate from pain and suffering – The human Mind is a a major source of suffering to self and others This is no one’s fault but – it is linked to how the brain works in certain contexts – this carries huge implications and responsibilities for how we build compassionate minds societies and spiritualities.

45. The greatest Compassionate challenges for all spiritualities Recognise the fact that spiritualities and religions can be a source of great evil/suffering --The tribalisms, gender controls, inventions of mortal sin, concepts of hell, splitting of the good and the bad etc. Today we need to develop a true understanding of the nature of ‘mind’ and compassion Understand how compassion is a motivational system that has to compete with other potential motives

46. The Emergence of the Compassionate Mind and Spirituality

47. Compassion * Compassion is the acknowledgment that not all pain can be ‘fixed’ or ‘solved’ but all suffering is made more approachable in a landscape of compassion. * Compassion is a multi-textured response to pain, sorrow and anguish. It includes kindness, empathy, generosity and acceptance. The strands of courage, tolerance, equanimity are equally woven into the cloth of compassion. Above all compassion is the capacity to open to the reality of suffering and to aspire to its healing Feldman, C & Kuyken, W. (2011). Compassion in the landscape of suffering. Contemporary Buddhism, 12, 143-155

48. The Two Psychologies of Compassion Compassion can be defined in many ways but focuses on two key psychologies: As a sensitivity to the suffering of self and others with a deep commitment to try to relieve and preventit Two different Psychologies To approach, understand and (how to) engage with suffering - looking into its causes - COURAGE To work to alleviate and prevent suffering – work to acquire wisdom and skills - DEDICATION Each more complex than might at first seem

49. Compassion Diamond Alleviation Engagement Well-being Prevention

50. Compassion as Flow Different practices for each Other Self Self Other Self Self Evidence that intentionally practicing each of these can have impacts on mental states and social behaviour