I picked up a new book the other day by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, entitled: How To Be Compassionate: A Handbook For Creating Inner Peace and a Happier World. My purpose in buying the book was to find the common ground between Buddhism and Christianity, and was inspired by my knowledge that Thomas Merton (a Trappist Monk and writer) had meetings with the Dalai Lama. In general terms, according to the Dalai Lama, compassion, even with a little self-interest thrown in, can change us, and in doing so, can change the world.