In his lesser known 1872 book The Expression of Emotions in Man
and Animals, Darwin proposed that empathy is a universal trait.
"He saw this book as an important contribution showing the
commonality of all people," Ekman said. (Read more about
Darwin's scientific legacy.) It's also possible that Darwin
encountered Buddhist teachings through letters from other
scholars of the time, he added. Over the past few years, Ekman
examined Darwin's book along with Buddhist teachings and divided
compassion into three types: simple, global, and heroic. Simple
compassion is the almost instinctual form that exists mostly
between a mother and an infant. Global compassion appears when
people help distant strangers, such as the outpouring of
international aid after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. And
heroic compassion occurs when a person is motivated into epic
acts of bravery, for instance, jumping into an icy pond to save
someone else's life. In a recent book co-authored with the Dalai
Lama, Ekman suggests creating "compassi