How Can We Help?
Guidelines to facilitate Compassionate Sharing
Version 1.9 – January 2020
Author: Ishi
Audience: Samma Karuna facilitators
Last modifed: 23th January 2023
Abstract: The following KB describes de compassionate sharing practice of Samma Karuna.
Learning objective
- Door (teaching): We don’t react for what happens in the outside but rather how this make us feel (the interpretation).
- Learning how to share in a way that devides an event from it’s interpretation so to avoid the other person to feel attacked during the sharing and to help us take responsability for the way we feel.
- Learning how to share in a way that devides an event from it’s interpretation so to avoid the other person to feel attacked during the sharing and to help us take responsability for the way we feel.
- Door (teaching): The role I create to feel more lovable/worth it is actually preventing me to experience that love Im looking for.
- Door (teaching): Vulnerability is a strengh that allows me to reach deeper levels of intimacy with myself and others.
Session description
- Sharing from your heart
- Instead to talk about the other person I talk about me and how I felt instead of judging others.
- Its about letting go roles (like being the victim or the strong one) and reconecting with my emotions and feelings.
- Sharing from a place of authenticity and vulnerability that allow others to share from the same space.
- Example: “You did xxx and therefore you are yyy” changes by “You did xxx and I felt yyy”
Rules
- Sharing something meaningful
- Share some concrete
- Time matter (up to 5 minutes or so)
- One way sharing (the other do not participate)
- No advices
- But I can share about something similar that happened to me and what I learned.
- No talking about what has been shared on the circle with anyone outside.
- If you want to talk about something that was shared on this circle with another participant, wait at least 24hrs. before approaching this person.
Tools
- Use “Mr. Bear” (SK teddy bear)
By holding Mr. bear after each sharing people have time to honored and take in the body what was has been shared. Once the silence is enough and the energy is receptive again you may place Mr. Bear again at the center of the circle. - Invite student to place the left hand on thier heart center and rise their right hand when they feel empathic with a sharing (this is also mine, I also see myself in this sharing).
- You may invite students that are listening to the sharing to make a simple sign by pointing to themselves when someone is sharing something about someone else (such as a judgment about other person or the experience of someone else) reminding in this way the student to come back to share about himself.
- You may invite students to practice as well “compassionate gibberish” by sharing in an unknown language and “talking from their heart”. In these cases its important that you demo the technique so they don’t end up making it rather fan than meaningful. Usually this modality works best on 1 to 1 sharing but can be done in groups as well.
- You may introduce some of these two questions during the sharing whenever you feel it would help the student to realize in which extend his thoughts are creating the reality he is experiencing:
- How do you react when you believe in this thought?
- Who would you be without this thought/believe?
Notes:
- No political, racial.. etc talk.
- No sharing about experiences of other people.