by Rick Hanson | Aug 28, 2009 | Neurodharma, Relationships
Love tends to join and hate to separate, but joining is not the same as love, and separation is not hatred. Sometimes the most loving thing a person can do is take a step back: that’s distance in the service of attachment. And it’s not loving to join in invasive or...
by Rick Hanson | Jun 16, 2008 | Neurodharma, Relationships
Introduction “Metta” means lovingkindness. A beautiful way to compensate for the hard-wired tendency to fix our attention and affections on mainly one person, or small group of people, is to deliberately cultivate and practice an attitude of compassion and kindness...
by Rick Hanson | Apr 3, 2008 | Neurodharma, Relationships
The Evolution of Empathy, Cooperation, and Caring – And Graceful Ways to Ride the Roller-Coaster of Romance Introduction The marvelous human capabilities for understanding each other, and feeling understood, developed in the brain over millions of years. Learning...
by Rick Hanson | Jan 18, 2008 | Neurodharma, Relationships
© Rick Hanson, PhD, 2008www.RickHanson.net Introduction This essay is about the origin of the best and the worst characteristics of human beings . . . and how to nurture the good that lies inside every heart. What Is Empathy? Empathy is the capacity to sense, feel,...
by Rick Hanson | Sep 8, 2007 | Neurodharma, Relationships
There is a natural balance within us all between the desire for joining and the desire for separation, between the desire for closeness and the desire for distance. These two great themes – joining and separation – are central to human life. Almost everyone wants both...
by Rick Hanson | Aug 19, 2007 | Neurodharma, Relationships
Introduction Giving – known as “dana” in Pali, the language in which the teachings of the Buddha were first written down – is the first of the ten “paramis” or perfections of a Bodhisattva, a highly Awakened person who postpones his or her ultimate enlightenment...
