- As a result of my studies, I found a thread
that the essence of religion was compassion.
That every single one of the major world religions,
Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism,
and Confucianism, they all insisted on what's often
known as The Golden Rule: Never treat others
as you would not like to be treated yourself.
The wish was that we would get a panel of activists,
and together we would craft a charter,
a brief statement reminding the world
that this is what religion is about.
(melodic tones)
- They had a big idea to change the world.
But they couldn't do it alone.
- So, my wish... - So, my wish...
- I wish...
- So now my wish...
- And now, here's my wish...
(voices yelling)
- Our nation seemed to be crumbling by the day.
And this should make us uncomfortable.
We've all got huge problems in our cities.
Problems of inequity and cruelty and violence.
So, what can we do?
What can we do to change things?
Every city has to be compassionate.
And people often ask me, well, what should
a compassionate city be like?
And I said, “Well, a compassionate city should
“be an uncomfortable city.”
One is Louisville, Kentucky, where the mayor,
Greg Fischer, actually campaigned
on the idea of compassion.
- When I announced compassion as a city value,
it got a lot of attention.
A city is a platform for human potential to come alive.
Compassion makes individuals stronger.
And it makes our cities stronger.
- People just can't call themselves a compassionate city
unless they've got a practical course of action.
- So the question then is,
how do you bring compassion alive?
How do you change the culture of your city?
What if you could start at the beginning
of a young child's life?
(slow hammering)
(melodic tone chimes once and sustains)
- My name is Meghann Clem Mattingly.
I am the Compassionate School’s Project teacher.
Compassion is a very teachable thing.
OK.
I see a lot of friends who are lookin' ready.
Every CSP class begins with calming and focusing.
And then, we have some sort of core practice,
that we're doing, whether we're talking
about self-awareness or empathy-building skills.
We are starting at the ground level.
We are building that foundation for our students
at age 5 and up to be more compassionate citizens.
Goodbye, Jeremy.
- (yelling) No!
Jeremy, look at Miss Mattingly.
- Just go, calm down, just go.
Jeremiah, we're gonna try harder to get
our self-regulation back, sir.
- This is the second reason I'm mad at my life.
- Jeremiah, come here.
I need you to tell me more about that.
Jeremiah, come here.
Anger or frustration, which feeling was bringing?
- Anger.
- Anger, I can tell.
Look at your hands.
So, before we talk about it, can you calm yourself down?
No?
It's hard to, isn’t it?
So can you try to make your hands look like mine?
Nope.
Can you try to let go of that?
- Nn-nn.
- Look at your face, I see a smile there.
You're tryin' real hard to hang on to that anger.
I see everyday these changes happening in these students.
And I have all the hope in the world that this project
will change our education.
- We define compassion as respect for each and every one
of our citizens, so that their human potential
is flourishing, thriving.
- [Group of women speaking in Unison] Grant me the serenity
to accept the things that I can not change,
the courage to change the things that I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference,
just for today.
Keep comin' back.
It works.
- Hotel Louisville is a great example of how to think about
the whole system of getting a person back on track.
So it's a shelter for women and their families,
but it's also an operating hotel.
- Hotel Louisville is not just a women's rehab facility.
It is a workforce program.
We run the hotel.
We do all the jobs here.
Every time that one of us has our own individual skills,
it gives us a sense of responsibility.
Because we can put this on our resumes when we leave.
- I think the compassion really comes from the girls
that are in the rehab, because we depend on each
other a lot.
We need each other.
(background women's voices talking)
If I was not here at Hotel Louisville, I would be sittin'
in jail doin' my time.
I was given that chance.
And I wanna live, I wanna live life.
- It lifts us all up to say this is the kind
of city we are, and this is the kind of city
we aspire to be.
And that any way we can help other cities,
and to take us to even greater heights,
is what we wanna do.
It's this ripple effect.
We're not perfect as a city.
But, boy, we're workin' to be better every day.
- Here you have a city, which is doing great
things with compassion.
Cities and mayors are going to play an important
role as leaders of the future.
I'd like to see a thousand compassionate cities
in the next decade that remind the rest of the world
what our duty is.
Always treat all others as you'd
like to be treated yourself.
(silence)