We all feel we are compassionate and kind people. But there is a whole other level of compassion that exists at the coalface of life. Senior Zen Buddhist Teacher, Joan Halifax, is a pioneer in the field of end-of-life care who has worked with the dying for forty years, and has spent six years working with people on death row.

She says that science has proved that being compassionate enhances our immune system. This profound teacher lost her eye sight and was partially paralysed at age four, and through this experience and her early suffering, she witnessed the strength of compassion first hand.

In this powerful talk, Joan Halifax awakens us to the true meaning of compassion and the nature of empathy.