Compassionate Integrity Training (CIT) is a multi-part training program that cultivates basic human values as skills for the purpose of increasing individual, social and environmental flourishing. CIT focuses on and builds towards the ability to live one’s life in accordance with one’s values with a recognition of common humanity, our basic orientation to kindness, and reciprocity. “Compassionate Integrity” is achieved as a result of building up knowledge, understanding, and a set of concrete skills. Because compassionate integrity is what guards against actions that compromise the well-being of oneself and others, cultivating it in one’s life and in one’s community directly impacts individual and collective flourishing.
The CIT course comprises three series. The first series is Self-Cultivation. The second series is Relating to Others and the last series is Engaging in Systems. With each series, the skills build on from the last, starting with exploring the self, moving to focus on others, and finally engaging in wider networks and systems that we are part of and engage with.
The first series in CIT covers the manner in which one relates to oneself. It includes an exploration of knowledge and skills related to the inner workings of an individual. The series is built on the value of an increased level of personal well-being (self-cultivation) being necessary in order to foster better relationships with others and contribute to the community.
The second series focuses on improving one’s relationship with others and ensuring that the relationship is one that promotes the wellbeing of oneself and others. Here, one learns how to self-regulate and restrain from harming others through the strengthening of pro-social attributes such as forgiveness, gratitude, impartiality, empathy, and compassion.
The third and last series of CIT involves recognizing the interdependent nature of the world we live in, including the interdependence of the systems we interact with daily. The focus here is on developing the skills and discernment to act effectively for constructive change within those systems.