Is there a need for a discourse on compassion?  Why would anyone want to read about compassion when our culture gives us so many alternatives (i.e. competition)?  Thousands of books have been written about Love, how does that compare and contrast with compassion?  These are questions I ask myself as I write this book.

What, you, the reader will learn and hopefully experience is a fullness of heart that only compassion can bring about.  We all remember peak experiences when something profound happened, such as; a wedding, a birth, a death or just falling "in love."  These experiences, often shared, are the most common moments of compassion.

What this book offers is an expanded view although still limited by my own learning and practice.  What compassion is about, to me, is a new meaning for Love.  We all know and understand what love is all about, right? Or do we have a limited view, as limited as our vision of God.  I will mention God and Love freely throughout this thesis yet do not be confused.  I am merely connecting an element of compassion to the Big Picture of God’s Will for us.

A dialectical approach will be used throughout this book.  What that means is that I don’t have an exact right way of defining this concept or that idea.  I prefer a contemplative approach of “how much do I identify and relate.”  Or rather, on a continuum basis, how much does this resonate inside me and my heart?

Another way of pondering "dialectic" is through paradoxical thinking.  These concepts are not black and white.  More like a "both/and" rather than an "either/or."  "Di" means two and "lectic" means from side to side or beginning to end.  Therefore, a continuum approach is useful (i.e. from 1 to 10).  How much does this belief apply to me?

The intended purpose of preparing you, the reader, for how I, the writer, will communicate; is to help you become more contemplative when pondering the nature of compassion.  A contemplative heart lives in the middle and outside paradox.

"There is a field beyond right and wrong, I will meet you there," ~Rumi~