ethics of compassion

I didn't post yesterday because I wanted to report on the final reading group discussion that took place this afternoon. Faculty and students participated in the discussion of Dying to Get High: Marijuana as Medicine, with co-author Dr. Richard Webb leading the discussion. This conversation was different from the previous ones in that we had quite a few questions for Dr. Webb.

The book includes an interview with Dr. Webb in which he describes his experience as a caregiver for one of the WAMM members. The person became so ill that he lived with Dr. Webb for about 10 weeks, until the person died. In discussing this experience with us today, Dr. Webb told us that working with the people in WAMM and serving as a caregiver had led him to feel more compassion for others. That's a theme throughout the book, and speaks to the ethics of compassion briefly mentioned in Chapter 14 of the text. The authors note, "a number of Buddhist traditions embrace widening circles of compassion to include not only those close to us but also those distant and even our enemies" (p. 425). The members of WAMM seem to work hard to take this approach with those inside and outside the organization, designing a system of justice focused on meeting people's needs rather than assuring everyone contributes equal amounts to the organization.

Although this was the last department reading group discussion of the book, Dr. Webb will be presenting in the University Scholar Series in the spring. In addition, the department plans to sponsor a colloquium for next semester in which Dr. Webb discusses the book. In the meantime, read Dying to Get High. It's engaging and informative on multiple levels.

~ Professor Cyborg