In the Shamanic tradition (and others) there are very specific tools that we are guided to use to meet reality. These tools both form a framework and containment for the difficult process of Initiation—when you’re going through hell they provide a structure and reliable practice that will ground you—and are innately aligned with the quality of a matured, spiritually awake mind.

Our souls are generous, present, grateful, and compassionate, and so we practice these ways of being so as to live our way into that state.

We’ll explore two of these primary tools in this episode, compassion and blessing. By exploring the critical difference between empathy and compassion I hope you’ll recognize how important it is that we, as a global community, move away from attempts at empathic attunement and towards compassionate practice. Empathy is a wonderful and beautiful capacity for small systems and families, but it just doesn’t scale, and is increasing the division and conflict between social groups in our world.