The Dalai Lama believes, as I do, that the central issue of life is "compassion". It is the essence of religion - a view that seems odd to many in the West, who think of religion as being all about swallowing a bunch of implausible doctrine and accepting authority over evidence. I believe that religion is about being serious about the choices you make about who you want to be and how you want to live your life. Not the "spooky stuff". Compassion is like that. You are free not to be compassionate and that's the choice that most people make most of the time. Choosing compassion as the guiding principal of your life is a huge leap of faith. There is no particular reason to share in the suffering of others. In fact, Buddhism itself teaches that such sharing will lead directly to personal suffering. Compassion is often costly, painful and difficult. Tragic end of 4-Year Old Alan Kurdi's flight from terror  As the Dalia Lama says, the outpouring of sympathy for t...