Expanding Compassion for Our Times

Rick Hanson
Rick Hanson
Sep 24, 2026

In this talk hosted by the Center for Mindfulness and Compassion at Harvard Medical School, Rick Hanson explores how compassion can expand beyond empathy for those who are like us. He considers a bolder, “fierce” compassion—one that includes people we may dislike or oppose, responds to suffering with courage and clarity, and addresses not only its immediate effects but also its deeper systemic causes.