Roshi Joan Halifax — founder of Upaya Zen Center in New Mexico, medical anthropologist, and longtime teacher of contemplative care for the dying — distinguishes the empathy that depletes from a compassion that does not collapse under the weight of news cycles. She names the trap she calls "pathological altruism" and the practice that lifts a caregiver out of it.
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It’s easy to despair at all the bad news and horrific pictures that come at us daily. But Roshi Joan Halifax says this is a form of empathy that works against us. There’s such a thing as pathological altruism. This zen abbot and medical anthropologist has nourishing wisdom as we face suffering in the world.