To Feel with the Other: Karen Armstrong Talks with Bill Moyer

A Radical Conversation on Compassion

I turned on Bill Moyers’ Journal on television last week and found him talking to British scholar Karen Armstrong. Ms. Armstrong told him how she had developed the capacity to see the world as someone radically different from herself saw it, in this case, the prophet Mohammed in 7th century Arabia. This was a compelling moment for me because this is a subject one does not often hear about in today’s discourse. Moyers and Armstrong had a fascinating exchange on what happens to someone who has learned this skill of seeing the world as another sees it, particularly if that other is an enemy. Anchored in the world’s spiritual traditions, Ms. Armstrong has recently created, with many others, a Charter for Compassion, which she also talked about with Moyers. What does the ability to place oneself in the world and experience of another have to do with cultivating compassion?

Learning a New Skill that Goes Against the Grain

The entire transcript of this conversation is available at the PBS website, as are the emails from people who watched the show. Much of the conversation between Moyers and Armstrong concerns the difficult challenges of learning the skill of practicing how to really see the world as others see it, or as Ms. Armstrong says it, “re-creating” their world view. This is a vital skill for forwarding world peace. Armstrong describes how the resistance to practicing this skill is rooted in the ego, i.e. that we love arguing and making people wrong. From there Moyers and Armstrong jump into a discussion of world politics, from terrorism to fundamentalist religions. Armstrong urges listeners to hear the unspoken needs and emotions underneath the political rhetoric, to calm and quiet the public passions.

Human Beings Love to Criticize Each Other

Many people wrote in to express their opinions about this show. When you read these letters it is interesting how few of them actually cite the main ideas of the show, i.e. the skill of learning to see the world as others see it, the issue of the ego and how it expresses itself in the realm of politics and religion, and how human beings love to make each other wrong. Many of the letters were highly critical of Moyers and Armstrong. Which makes you wonder if those listeners really got what the program was all about. Interesting!

To Practice Compassion Daily Brings Peace

I have never read any of Ms. Armstrong’s books before but I was deeply impressed by her maturity and by who she is as a human being. Anyone who has been able to take the profound spiritual step of imagining themselves into the worldview of other human beings so different than themselves, especially ones from other centuries and cultures, has performed an amazing feat of transformation. We are all so anchored in our egos, believing that our identities are our true selves, that we are have tremendous resistance to opening the doors to finding our commonalities with other human beings, especially those we label enemy. This is terrifying for many people. Yet, when we take this step, the peace it brings is profound and liberating beyond measure.

Those who have been reading Peace by Design know that talking to enemies and seeing life from the viewpoint of the other is at the very heart of this transformational approach to creating a world at peace. I urge you to check out the Armstrong interview with Bill Moyers. I also refer you to blogs I have written previously on this topic.

• www.peacebydesignblog.com/letting-go-of-enemy-making
• www.peacebydesignblog.com/partnering-with-the-islamic-world
• www.peacebydesignblog.com/learning-to-be-at-peace-with-differences
• www.peacebydesignblog.com/seeing-the-world-as-others-see-it

Have a comment? We want to hear from you? Have you experienced seeing the world as others see it? tTell us about it.  What are your experiences with compassion in action?