In this second episode of season 2 "Educating for Empathy," Prof. Geshe Lobsang Tenzin, Executive Director of Emory's Compassion Center, discusses how meditation is not just a relaxation technique, but is best understood as a form of education. Prof. Negi has overseen the development of all of the major programs offered at the Compassion Center. He tells the story of how Cognitively-Based Compassion Training -- the most scientifically researched compassion meditation protocol -- got its start from the suggestion of an Emory undergraduate, Molly Harrington, who worked to destigmatize mental illness on campus. And he discusses how he has seen SEE Learning, Emory's free social emotional learning program -- now implemented in some form in 77 countries -- greeted as a "dream come true" around the world. Prof. Negi discusses the upcoming launch of the Compassion Shift, an effort to scale these two programs in an integrated way to help bring about the Dalai Lama's vision of a global culture of compassion, as well as the role science education for monastic scholars can play in furthering the field of "contemplative science."

Richard Moore and Ursula Moore from the Irish charity Children in Crossfire join Art Linton, Kitty Graham, and Brendan Ozawa-de Silva at Emory to explore what role introducing empathy into education can play in ending the injustice of poverty and improving the lives of students. Despite being shot and blinded by a British soldier at age 10, Richard Moore has gone on to lead a successful life, first running two pubs in his hometown of Derry, Northern Ireland, and then starting the charity Children in Crossfire to provide children in poverty with the chance to choose the life they would like to lead. In addition to supporting early education (pre-K / pre-primary), housing, and nutrition in Tanzania and Ethiopia, Children in Crossfire run an education program for teachers and children in Ireland, called "Educating the Heart," to educate children in Ireland and the UK about the reality of global poverty and create the motivation to do something about it. In the second half of the podcast, Richard and Ursula make the case that education needs to instill values like empathy and compassion from an early age, rather than solely focusing on competition and academic success. Failure should be reframed as a learning opportunity rather than a source of shame and a stain on one's identity. Richard argues that the difficulties of depression and anxiety faced by children and young people today are a direct result of an education system and society that is based on competition and a limited conception of success, rather than more fundamental values. Joining midway through the show, Kitty shares her own experience of learning about compassion, meditation and interdependence as a six-year-old child through an early pilot of what later became Emory's SEE Learning program, and what an impact it made on her life. Richard concludes by sharing his vision for a future initiative centered on forgiveness, drawing from his personal experience of forgiving Charles, the soldier who shot him, but who later became a friend. He believes forgiveness can help people overcome anger, hatred, and bitterness, and he hopes to develop a program exploring forgiveness for education settings.

Is forgiveness merely a form of anger management? Does it involve the other person or just oneself? How do we think about the ethics of forgiveness? In this episode, distinguished Professor John Lysaker, Director of Emory University's Center for Ethics, speaks with Kitty and Brendan about these important distinctions, leading to a deep and rich conversation on the real challenges of forgiveness, and illustrating the value of doing keen philosophical work on this topic.

What does it mean to find freedom in forgiveness? At age 10 Richard Moore was walking home from school in his native Derry, Northern Ireland, when he was shot by a British soldier and nearly killed. Although he survived, he was blinded for life. Yet he never held anger towards the soldier, and over thirty years years later he actually met and befriended him. The Dalai Lama calls Richard his "personal hero" and a living example of the power and possibility of forgiveness. Hosts Kitty Graham and Brendan Ozawa-de Silva speak with Richard about how he found freedom in forgiveness and how we might too.

In this episode, we address the question "Is forgiveness related to health?" We speak with public health expert Dr Magon Saunders and Pastor Emmanuel Williams. Dr Saunders started "Forgive 4 Health Ministries" after changing her doctoral dissertation topic in public health from diabetes research to forgiveness. She has dedicated her life to understanding and promoting forgiveness, particularly for black Americans, through workshops, seminars, assessments and other means. Pastor Williams has reflected on forgiveness for much of his life and has supported and advised on Dr Saunders' forgiveness work.