--- product_id: 1527455 title: "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" price: "₨9540" currency: LKR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.lk/products/1527455-twelve-steps-to-a-compassionate-life store_origin: LK region: Sri Lanka --- # Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life **Price:** ₨9540 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life - **How much does it cost?** ₨9540 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.lk](https://www.desertcart.lk/products/1527455-twelve-steps-to-a-compassionate-life) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description One of the most original thinkers on the role of religion in the modern world—and the bestselling author of such acclaimed books as A History of God, Islam, and Buddha —now gives us a thoughtful, and thought-provoking book that can help us make the world a more compassionate place. Karen Armstrong believes that while compassion is intrinsic in all human beings, each of us needs to work diligently to cultivate and expand our capacity for compassion. Here, she sets out a program that can lead us toward a more compassionate life. The twelve steps Armstrong suggests begin with “Learn About Compassion” and close with “Love Your Enemies.” In between, she takes up “compassion for yourself,” mindfulness, suffering, sympathetic joy, the limits of our knowledge of others, and “concern for everybody.” She suggests concrete ways of enhancing our compassion and putting it into action in our everyday lives, and provides, as well, a reading list to encourage us to “hear one another’s narratives.” Throughout, Armstrong makes clear that a compassionate life is not a matter of only heart or mind but a deliberate and often life-altering commingling of the two. Review: Spiritual Practice Towards Compassion - "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit," said Aristotle some 300 years BCE. Karen Armstrong would add that a compassionate life is not a goal, or an achievement, but an ongoing spiritual practice. We need to make compassion a habit. And this practice, if it does not make perfect, at least will evolve us in a positive and much needed way. The renowned author of over twenty books on religions of the world has now produced a passionate call to compassion. We need to heed the wisdom of the ancient sages of a wide range of religious and secular thought and apply a compassionate life to the complex circumstances of our own modern circumstances. Ms. Armstrong's `Wish for a Better World" expressed in her acceptance speech for her 2008 TED prize was that the leaders of the world's religions draw up a Charter for Compassion that emphasized their shared core values of compassion and the Golden Rule. The resulting document, unveiled in 2009, is a jewel of concise wisdom compiled by a Council of Conscience from literally tens of thousands of submissions. Following the usual media dictum of `if it bleeds it leads', traditional media have largely ignored this event. It has none-the-less been affirmed online by over 79,000 people. A half a dozen cities, starting with Seattle, have proclaimed themselves Compassionate Cities. Well over sixty cities and regions, including the entire country of Canada, are listed on the International Institute for Compassionate Cities web site as being in the process of this declaration. [NAIN was an early partner of the Charter.] The book is both scholarly and practical. Inspiration is drawn from a wide range of secular and spiritual sources - from Confucius and the Ancient Greeks to the Buddha and the Abrahamic prophets. Societal development tends to follow a paradigm of progression - Individual survival [Four F brain - feed, flee, fight, procreate], Evolving into societies - cooperate for survival of the group, 4 F brain joined with new brain reason = Violence from struggle for power, Revulsion from violence = spiritual change As humans develop a higher brain, the remnants of the Four F brain remain and may be evoked during power struggles, resulting in chaos and violence. Eventually, throughout history, repulsion to this violence has forced spiritual sages on a quest toward spiritual change. Our current world situation reflects the third stage where violence is evoked by appeals to the Four F brain. We have made vast progress in scientific exterior realities, but we have not as yet evolved many contemporary sages. "Many people today would rather be right than compassionate." Ms. Armstrong suggests that we have a choice - emphasize aspects of religious and secular traditions that speak of hatred, exclusion, suspicion or work with those that stress interdependence and equality for all. She further upholds the value of mythos as used in all societies to teach universal realities. Mythos is not based on historic fact, but provides a kind of spiritual road map to to a higher consciousness. The hero mythos, eloquently described by Joseph Campbell, is exemplified by Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, Gandhi in their quest for a larger truth and a more fully-realized self. The book outlines twelve steps towards the compassionate life which modern sages could use to heal the chaos of violence and power struggles. Compassion is definitely not painted as a fluffy, Pollyanna concept. Compassion is not pity, but the shared suffering of the other. The steps are not easy. They imply a lifetime of learning and discipline, not very popular tasks. Compassion for oneself is a necessary step. We live in a `me first' society that is, however, rife with self-doubt, guilt, eating disorders, and other neuroses. It is impossible to offer compassion to others if you have not first been compassionate to yourself. Compassion requires a critical look at how much we do not know. A society which expresses opinions ad nauseum on talk shows does not often reflect on what it really knows about the other. We do not easily want to lose arguments, even if we do not know what we are talking about. We give lip service to interfaith dialog, but rarely know how to engage in real dialog, in which we might learn something and change a preconceived conception. The twelve steps guide us on an ever widening circle of others to whom we practice offering compassion. It means resolving the intricacies of our closest relationships. How often it is hard to be compassionate to our families, our friends, and our co-workers! Then, the twelfth step seems hardest of all - love your enemies! Indeed, a compassionate life might seem an impossible task. But Karen Armstrong encourages us to see the steps as an ongoing process. We must continually stretch ourselves to be more and more compassionate, while applying self-compassion when we fail. The wisdom of the sages is not an impossible aspiration. And, she urges, even if we only achieve a fraction of that enlightenment, we will have lived a more worthy life and left the world a little bit better. I believe this book expresses a powerful, if not easy, prescription for the ills of our modern, violent world. Review: Easy read - Good book ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #227,009 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #89 in Religious Ethics (Books) #665 in Philosophy of Ethics & Morality #2,297 in Christian Self Help | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 740 Reviews | ## Images ![Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61DIcjjpeNL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Spiritual Practice Towards Compassion *by J***T on December 7, 2011* "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit," said Aristotle some 300 years BCE. Karen Armstrong would add that a compassionate life is not a goal, or an achievement, but an ongoing spiritual practice. We need to make compassion a habit. And this practice, if it does not make perfect, at least will evolve us in a positive and much needed way. The renowned author of over twenty books on religions of the world has now produced a passionate call to compassion. We need to heed the wisdom of the ancient sages of a wide range of religious and secular thought and apply a compassionate life to the complex circumstances of our own modern circumstances. Ms. Armstrong's `Wish for a Better World" expressed in her acceptance speech for her 2008 TED prize was that the leaders of the world's religions draw up a Charter for Compassion that emphasized their shared core values of compassion and the Golden Rule. The resulting document, unveiled in 2009, is a jewel of concise wisdom compiled by a Council of Conscience from literally tens of thousands of submissions. Following the usual media dictum of `if it bleeds it leads', traditional media have largely ignored this event. It has none-the-less been affirmed online by over 79,000 people. A half a dozen cities, starting with Seattle, have proclaimed themselves Compassionate Cities. Well over sixty cities and regions, including the entire country of Canada, are listed on the International Institute for Compassionate Cities web site as being in the process of this declaration. [NAIN was an early partner of the Charter.] The book is both scholarly and practical. Inspiration is drawn from a wide range of secular and spiritual sources - from Confucius and the Ancient Greeks to the Buddha and the Abrahamic prophets. Societal development tends to follow a paradigm of progression - Individual survival [Four F brain - feed, flee, fight, procreate], Evolving into societies - cooperate for survival of the group, 4 F brain joined with new brain reason = Violence from struggle for power, Revulsion from violence = spiritual change As humans develop a higher brain, the remnants of the Four F brain remain and may be evoked during power struggles, resulting in chaos and violence. Eventually, throughout history, repulsion to this violence has forced spiritual sages on a quest toward spiritual change. Our current world situation reflects the third stage where violence is evoked by appeals to the Four F brain. We have made vast progress in scientific exterior realities, but we have not as yet evolved many contemporary sages. "Many people today would rather be right than compassionate." Ms. Armstrong suggests that we have a choice - emphasize aspects of religious and secular traditions that speak of hatred, exclusion, suspicion or work with those that stress interdependence and equality for all. She further upholds the value of mythos as used in all societies to teach universal realities. Mythos is not based on historic fact, but provides a kind of spiritual road map to to a higher consciousness. The hero mythos, eloquently described by Joseph Campbell, is exemplified by Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, Gandhi in their quest for a larger truth and a more fully-realized self. The book outlines twelve steps towards the compassionate life which modern sages could use to heal the chaos of violence and power struggles. Compassion is definitely not painted as a fluffy, Pollyanna concept. Compassion is not pity, but the shared suffering of the other. The steps are not easy. They imply a lifetime of learning and discipline, not very popular tasks. Compassion for oneself is a necessary step. We live in a `me first' society that is, however, rife with self-doubt, guilt, eating disorders, and other neuroses. It is impossible to offer compassion to others if you have not first been compassionate to yourself. Compassion requires a critical look at how much we do not know. A society which expresses opinions ad nauseum on talk shows does not often reflect on what it really knows about the other. We do not easily want to lose arguments, even if we do not know what we are talking about. We give lip service to interfaith dialog, but rarely know how to engage in real dialog, in which we might learn something and change a preconceived conception. The twelve steps guide us on an ever widening circle of others to whom we practice offering compassion. It means resolving the intricacies of our closest relationships. How often it is hard to be compassionate to our families, our friends, and our co-workers! Then, the twelfth step seems hardest of all - love your enemies! Indeed, a compassionate life might seem an impossible task. But Karen Armstrong encourages us to see the steps as an ongoing process. We must continually stretch ourselves to be more and more compassionate, while applying self-compassion when we fail. The wisdom of the sages is not an impossible aspiration. And, she urges, even if we only achieve a fraction of that enlightenment, we will have lived a more worthy life and left the world a little bit better. I believe this book expresses a powerful, if not easy, prescription for the ills of our modern, violent world. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Easy read *by T***T on November 5, 2025* Good book ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ May we all embrace this *by K***S on March 7, 2011* In February 2008, the renowned author Karen Armstrong received a TED award (view her presentation here: [...]). She chose to use her TED prize to develop The Charter for Compassion ([...]). This book is the result of her work towards that project. Armstrong, with all of her knowledge of the various religious traditions draws upon them to demonstrate that at the core of each of them is the golden rule of "do to others what you would have them do to you" or "don't do to others what you would not want them to do to you." Armstrong explains to purusue this is to pursue a compassionate life. She explains how religion has been hijacked and used to oppress others. She helps to provide you a roadmap towards having a more compassionate life through these twelve steps: learn about compassion, look at your own world, have compassion for yourself, developing empathy, responding with action, recognizing how little we know about others, speaking differently about others, having concern for everyone, recognizing the differences in others and how they perceive and experience the world, and learning to love your enemies. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.lk/products/1527455-twelve-steps-to-a-compassionate-life](https://www.desertcart.lk/products/1527455-twelve-steps-to-a-compassionate-life) --- *Product available on Desertcart Sri Lanka* *Store origin: LK* *Last updated: 2026-05-25*