Sharing Compassions and Problem Solving Together

The basic tenet of the book is that if two people are suffering from the same difficulty and start talking about it, a very interesting chain of events can possibly occur. When one person starts talking about their problem, they are being self-compassionate. The other person can strongly feel their suffering because they have the same problem. Afterwards, the listening person usually offers words of encouragement: has compassion. Then the initial listener has self-compassion and describes their own suffering back to the initial talker. The person who first spoke then usually reciprocates and offers encouraging words. And on it goes. At some point they often start discussing ways to potentially help alleviate their suffering and they are then both feeling compassion and self-compassion at the same time (sharing compassions) which can form a very strong bond/friendship. This is a very powerful interaction and great energy can come from it to work together and try to solve their problem. 

The classic example is when two cancer patients discuss their shared illness with each other, and a strong bond/friendship forms. Great energy, ideas, and potential solutions can indeed come from their discussions. Soldiers in battle experience a similar bond. And there are limitless other examples. 

The book is primarily intended to serve as a tool to foster a healthy exchange of thought between people in order to make life better for ourselves, others, and the world in general. The content is intended to act as a foundation for the generation of new ideas, ideas from which to build things together to solve problems, and possibly have a positive impact on the world. I hope you enjoy reading it. The fun part comes when you start discussing the book with each other, share what you have learned, and start sharing your ideas with each other.

[Excerpt taken from my extended blog from December, 2022 which is no longer in this blog sequence.]