Q: What about compassion? I’m new to many ideas you’re presenting here and in your book and I’m curious to know how does something important like compassion work without some spiritual piece to it?

IOW what does ‘authentic’ compassion look like?

A: It’s a very commonly held assumption that compassion requires a spiritual story to justify it, and that without meaning, belief, virtue, or identity, what’s left would be sterile or cruel.

Most of what passes for compassion is sentimentality, self-image management, or moral performance. To function, it always needs a story, usually about something lik…