While many of us share the aspiration to be of benefit to the world, it can be difficult to sustain the activity that this demands. So what is it that can help us to keep going?

According to Thupten Jinpa, PhD, the key to bringing our aspirations to fruition in an ongoing way is finding joy in the activity. And, as he explains in this short teaching from a recent live call for the Awake Network community, this joy comes not only from pleasurable sensation, but from fulfilling a deeper purpose — and that’s where compassion comes in.

For those who would like to deepen their compassion practice, we highly recommend the Compassion Cultivation Training, an 8-week course developed by Thupten Jinpa PhD. The training includes weekly 2-hour classes with lectures, discussions, and interactive exercises; meditation practices that progress from week to week; real-world assignments for practicing compassionate thoughts and actions; and more! Learn more about this and all upcoming Compassion Institute classes here >>

About Thupten Jinpa

Thupten Jinpa, PhD, was trained as a monk at the Shartse College of Ganden Monastic University, South India, where he received the Geshe Lharam degree. Jinpa also holds a B.A. in philosophy and a Ph.D. in religious studies, both from Cambridge University.

Jinpa has been the principal English translator to H.H. the Dalai Lama since 1985, and has translated and collaborated on numerous books by the Dalai Lama including the New York Times Bestsellers Ethics for the New Millennium and The Art of Happiness, as well as Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World. His own publications include A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives and translations of major Tibetan works featured in The Library of Tibetan Classics series. Jinpa is the principal author of Compassion Cultivation Training™ (CCT©) developed while at Stanford University in 2009.

A frequent speaker at various international conferences on mindfulness, compassion, and contemplative practice, Jinpa serves as an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Religious Studies at McGill University, Montreal and is the founder and president of the Institute of Tibetan Classics. He has been a core member of the Mind and Life Institute and its Chairman of the Board since January 2012.