All scholars must use their knowledge and intellect to offer a fresh contemporary interpretation of holy scriptures based on compassionate considerations. Many of the world conflicts,past and present, were caused primarily by outdated religious views or restrictive and narrow understanding of the scriptures that are no longer relevant or applicable to modern society. Scholars have to be bold to respond to such calling.

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Scholars should rigorously ask what compassion requires of them and of adherents to their tradition. They should make the case for actually doing it. Scholars should seek out those doctrines and attitudes in their own traditions that show lack of compassion. They should mount a critique of these ideas, drawing on the best thinking from all traditions.

Scholars should, above all, be committed to truth. They should therefore take philosophy and science as their models. They should test all ideas, whether heresies or time-honoured traditions, first for coherence and then against the available evidence. Many will be led to reject both parts of their traditions and today's common-sense. Other scholars should respect those who do so in the name of truth.

Scholars are explorers of new territory for the human race, no less than were the terrestrial explorers of old. Like the visionary artsits, where they go we all eventually go. They should revel in, insist on, push the edges of the envelope of all freedoms, the freedom to open the inner door to compassion primary among them; the cascade of freedoms an envisioned world of universal compassion would engender. Let not current social, moral or intellectual mores limit them in their exploration, any more than their predecesors allowed waterfalls and mountain craigs to limit their explorations upon Mother Earth.

Scholars of religion, philosophy, history, and many other fields make great contributions to the advancement of knowledge and may influence the way that both public figures and ordinary people think about their subjects of study. This being the case, it is the responsibility of scholars to * Do research and write articles and books on the connections between the world's religions, the universal spiritual values such as love and compassion which transcend boundaries of doctrine and tradition, and the possibilities for meaningful interfaith dialogue and reconciliation; * Come together in scholarly conferences and other venues where differences of thinking may be respectfully discussed and common ground may be discovered, and encourage religious leaders to participate in or observe such discussions so that this spirit may carry over into their ministries; * Challenge and rebut the arguments of religious scholars and leaders who promote biased, ill-informed, or hate-filled interpretations of religion and religious scriptures.

Scholars should pass along knowledge through the form of story-telling. It is through these stories that people remember and retell. This will pass along the stories to others. It is an art form and we can all learn from the scholars.

Secular scholars need to question the pop mantra that religion is responsible for the world's violence. This twentieth-century prejudice denies our age the accumulated wisdom of our species and diminishes our ability to know ourselves. Religion does not have a monopoly on bigotry, hatred or individuals who believe they are right and will use violence. Neither does religion have a monopoly on individuals who will sacrifice their own lives in the pursuit of political or economic aims for a particular nation or ideology. Witness the involvement of western secular countries in the Iraq invasion, let alone the violence of the last century. We need to look deeper within ourselves. The real challenge to secular scholarship is to ask by what ideas can the world be inspired to overcome blind adherance to an ideology or a selfish sense of nationhood and become more compassionate? While Jesus said we should not put new wine into old wineskins, he also says after quoting passages from the Torah, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." (Mtt 13:52). I believe this Charter of Compassion holds the promise of the new.

I have been an international Cannabis scholar for the past seventeen years. It is apparent that because of 'marijuana' prohibition, food insecurity and malnutrition have been imposed on the world, through suppression of knowledge of the unique and essential nutritional value of hemp seed. Hemp is the only common seed with three essential fatty acids (EFAs) and is the best source of vegetable protein on Earth. The United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization doesn't even recognize hemp as food for humans. It is the crime of two Centuries and demands that global scholars unite in calling for a revaluation of Cannabis agriculture, out of sheer compassion for the suffering of hundreds of millions of people.

Scholars and students of religion are today presented with a wondrous opportunity to forge a new understanding. The concealed mysteries and ethical visions from every tradition from every culture and every historical epoch are openly available to us today. We are being called by the world into a new resonant understanding, that "connects the good found everywhere", pulling it together into a new kind of global ethics and spiritual standard for a new humanity. Part of this work is deeply spiritual and mystical, but an important part is absolutely the responsibility and calling of scholars and students, who can articulate this emerging new vision with clarity, empathy, and power.

Scholars who have already dethroned their egos and self importance and have arrived as ready teachers with renewed eyes and heart -- an ever growing group who have already walked their lonely path of self examination, and come prepared to help us with our own. Scholars who repeatedly apply the universal themes of renewal and rebirth to their dearly held conceptions and interpretations of our most holy and limitless scriptures and bring forth the often obscured messages of love and service. ...pointers who point the way.

Scholars of science and religion face the unnameable and unknowable with open minds. The wise do the same with open hearts. May all scholars aspire to become wise.

Scholars are students of philosophy. Philosophers are students of reality. Perhaps what is needed is not more scholars, but more philosophers. We need to learn to question everything again and find authentic voices (not echoes) that are born of minds that are comfortable with ambiguity and infinity. We need a philosophy of tolerance that doesn't get mired in self-secret terminology but rather overflows into the every-day-world. Let us aspire to be like Socrates who sought truth above all else and never claimed to have found it.

I knew a scholar who taught a philosophy of debate class. He taught that the strongest arguments are always from the con side rather than the pro because all you have to do from the con side is find ways to disprove the pro statements. The best way to approach passages used in hatred is to find other points of view with which to examine them.

If scholars would drop their aspirations to "sell" a point of view (for whatever reasons), and sincerely seek to explore and expound upon their findings with wisdom, not dominated by "ego", or "position", etc., compassion would naturally arise, as they would clearly be able to view the seemingly endless parade of human foolishness, "chance" events, momentary folly, faulty information, bad judgement, and so forth. From the point of view of the perpetrator, as well as the point of view of the benefactor, the "actor" always views him/her self as "right" and we need to see this clearly to understand what happened. Then we need to have things presented to us in such a way that we can learn from their mistakes and emulate their successes, and an unbiased scholar with a mind of wisdom and a heart of compassion can help us do this.

The pursuit of materialism, scholarly acclaim, tenure, and legacy must become byproducts of scholarly pursuit, not the driving force and/or impetus for the direction one chooses for study and research. We call all Ministries and Departments of Education, Medical, Law, Art, Science and all College and Technical School Administrators to action. We call Department Chairs to action. We call Professors, Instructors, Teachers and Adult Educators to action. Examine the paradigm through which truth and "findings" are conveyed and if necessary- create a new paradigm. Compassion is need-based, oftentimes interpersonal, analysis with an immediate deadline for submission. Considering the implications of our research, forward thinkers need courageously frontier and encourage pursuits capable of pushing the limits of our thinking. Scholars must identify, debate, and challenge both thesis and antithesis, sound the prophetic alarms for necessary change with credible research and statistics, and maintain unwavering integrity toward the pursuit of answers... For without the Scholar's poignant questions driving our thinking, we remain lost. Scholars, we call you to action.

Scholars are Scholars nobody can control their thoughts. Only a Scholar can change another Scholar thought. These people are the one that innovate one’s thought and compassion. Scholars are the one that should be conferencing on interfaith harmony, so an opportunity should be given to them to sit together and make an agenda of interfaith.

One cannot circumscribe research and claim that scholars do this and not that, but one can suggest that compassion is the manifestation of wisdom... that wisdom manifest is always inclusive, accepting, open-hearted, open-minded and open-handed and that anything less than this is not wisdom but merely opinion.

Interpreting compassion ought not to be an abstract exercise divorced from compassionate interpretation. Instead of a default position of either a hermeneutics of suspicion or a hermeneutics of trust, we might attempt to develop and indwell a hermeneutics of compassion. Compassionate hermeneutics will require empathic care-giving agency across boundaries of significant otherness, including disciplinary and professional boundaries. Placing the inter-religious dialogue within the context of an inter-disciplinary pursuit of a hermeneutics of compassion could provide a conceptual space that makes it easier to link research into the dynamics of sociality with religious responses to the human encounter with infinity. On the one hand, we can acknowledge the real (ontological) causal power of compassionate engagement within the nested hierarchies of sociality in which one belongs. On the other hand, we can attend to the way in which the social nature of our hermeneutical (pragmatic) engagement is mutually shaped by the way in which we deal imaginatively with our desire to be infinitely cared-for, and with our fear that our limited capacity for empathic intimacy will fail to secure the beauty of our belonging with others.

We live in an increasingly globalised world seen through local eyes where the space between the micro and macro /local and global is the drama of contemporary life. The space/place/distance 'between' is where compassion gained through new perspectives of ourselves and others can flourish. The 'space between' is a place where agendaless but not directionless conversation has the potential to collapse differences to reveal fundamental similarities where compassionate connections can be forged. Scholars and artists can help reveal fundamental similarities in ways which excite the intellects and spirits of all.

The intrusion of political power into scholarly pursuits -- whether scientific research in health, physics or any other field -- erodes the fundamental basis for compassion in scholarship. If government stands against science it can equally disturb fair and compassionate wisdom in spiritual pursuits. If the citizens of the world benefit from truth in scholarship then findings from all fields must be respected and made part of human understanding.

Scholars should explore the theme of compassion in the mythology, stories, narratives, doctrines, and rituals of their own and other traditions. They also have a duty to collaborate with the scientific community and research compassion and its effects on the brain helping to strengthen our understanding and carefully re-examine how compassion will be interpreted and taught world wide.

* be open to the idea that a lot of knowledge and wisdom comes from non-academic sources and to realise that even the most extensive academic libraries can be limited in scope * create work that will lead to greater practical action worldwide - not just sit in a shelf

Children with life-threatening diseases, live in poverty, are abused and neglected, must be one of the top priorities for our compassion. Children are God's natural mystics and adults seem to forget we were them. In considering the Golden Rule, if we reflect on our own childhood and empathize with children then we can do unto them what is best. To do this, we must take a look at the weaknesses of our systemic structures and re-organize to create a better present and future for children who suffer and die.

Following on from Dec 01, 2008 @ 02:09 PM EST post We have studied the human condition since the condition arose.. we through our universities and research bodies know how to organize the human endeavour to maximize desired outcome.. take the corporate strategy designed to maximize profit... these utilize the results of our collective wisdom for their own ends. The need is for collective wisdom to be applied for the needs of the many rather than the few... Heaven on Earth can only come when this is implemented... all else is futile.. If we truly desire a Compassionate Society we must design the Society to reflect Compassionate Principles and Outcomes... all within the present capacity of the human being... Consider Cosmology... the Word.. the Light.. the Love.. the Truth.. in what ever order you like they all speak to the one truth.. we are one, love yourself and the other...