Podcasts about thich nhat hahn

TRANSCRIPT Robertson: [00:00:00] Gissele: Hello and welcome to the Love and Compassion podcast with Gissele. We believe that love and compassion have the power to heal our lives and our world. Gissele: Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more amazing content. And if you’d like to support the podcast, please go to buy me a coffee.com/love and compassion. Today we’re talking about how to become a more compassionate civilization in light of the world’s most recent events. Robertson Work is a nonfiction author, social ecological activist, and former UNDP policy advisor on decentralized government, NYU Wagner, graduate School of Public Service, professor of Innovative Leadership and Institute of Cultural Affairs, country Director, conducting community organizational and leadership initiatives. Gissele: He has worked in over 50 countries for over 50 years and is founder of the Compassionate Civilization Collaborative. He has five published books and has [00:01:00] contributed to another 13. His most well-known book is a Compassionate Civilization. Every week he publishes an essay on Compassionate Conversations on Substack. Gissele: Please join me in welcoming Robertson work. Hi Robertson. Robertson: Hi Giselle. How are you? Gissele: I’m good. How about yourself? Robertson: I’m good, thank you. I here in the Southern United States. I’m glad you’re in wonderful Canada. Robertson: great admiration for your country. Gissele: Ah, thank you. Thank you. Gissele: I wanted to talk about your book. I got a copy of it and it was written in 2017, but as I was reading it, I really found myself listening to things that were almost prophetic that seemed to be happening right now. What compelled you to write Compassionate Civilizations at this moment in history. Robertson: Yes. Thank You you so much, and thank you for inviting me to talk with you today. Robertson: And I wanna say I’m so touched by the wonderful work of the Matri Center for Love [00:02:00] and Compassion. I have enjoyed looking at your website and listening to your podcast and hearing Pema Chodron speak about self-love. If it’s okay, I’d like to start with a few moments of mindful breathing Gissele: Yes, definitely. Robertson: okay. I invite everyone to become aware of your breathing, being aware of breathing in and breathing out. Breathing in the here and in the now. Breathing in love. Breathing in gratitude. I have arrived. I am home. I’m solid. I am free breathing in, breathing out here now. Robertson: Love [00:03:00] gratitude. Arrived home solid free. Okay. And to your question, after working in local communities and organizations around the world with the Institute of Cultural Affairs and doing program and policy work with UNDP and teaching grad school at NYU Wagner, I felt called to articulate a motivating vision for how to embody and catalyze a compassionate civilization. Robertson: So each of us can embody, even now, even here, we can embody and catalyze a compassionate civilization in this very present moment. We don’t have to wait, you know, 50 years, a hundred years, a thousand years. we can embody it in the here and the now. So I was increasingly aware of climate change, climate disasters, [00:04:00] the rise of oligarchic, fascism, and of course the UN’s sustainable development goals. Robertson: I also had been studying the engaged Buddhism of Thich Nhat Hahn for many years, and practicing mindfulness and compassionate action. As you know, compassion is action focused on relieving suffering in individual mindsets and behaviors, and collective cultures and systems. The word that com it means with, and compassion means suffering. Robertson: So compassion is to be with suffering and to relieve suffering in oneself and with others. So, I gave talks about a compassionate civilization in my NYU Wagner grad classes and in speeches in different countries. Then in 2013, I started a blog called The Compassionate Civilization. So in 2017, there was a [00:05:00] new US president who concerned me deeply and who’s now president again. Robertson: So a Compassionate Civilization was published in July of that year, as you mentioned, 2017. The book outlines our time of crisis and provides a vision, strategies and tactics of embodying and catalyzing a compassionate civilization, person by person, community by community. Moment by moment it it includes the movement of movements, mom that will do that. Robertson: Innovative leadership methods, global local citizen, and practices of care of self and others as mindful activists. So there’s a lot in it. Yeah. The Six strategies or arenas of transformation are environmental sustainability, gender equality, socioeconomic justice, participatory governance, cultural tolerance and peace, and non-violence, socio. Robertson: So since then [00:06:00] I’ve been promoting the Compassionate Civilization Collaborative, as you mentioned, to support a movement of movements. The mom, Gissele: thank you for that. I really appreciated that. And I really enjoyed the book as well. It’s so funny that, the majority of people see a world that doesn’t work and they want things to change, but they don’t do something necessarily to change it. When did compassion shift from a private virtue to a public mission for you? Robertson: Great question. Thank you. I think it began the private part began very early in my Christian upbringing. I was raised by loving parents to love others. You know, love of neighbor is the heart of Christianity. And understand that love is the ultimate reality. You know, that you know, as we say in Christianity, God is love. Robertson: So then when I went off to college at Oklahoma State University, I found myself being a campus activist. So I shifted to activism for civil rights. We were [00:07:00] demonstrating for women’s rights and for peace in Vietnam. As you know, the Vietnam War was raging. And after that, I attended Theological Seminary at Chicago Theological Seminary, but. Robertson: My calling happened when I was still in college, and it was in a weekend course, just a one weekend in Chicago. Some of us drove up and attended a course at, with the ecumenical Institute in the African-American ghetto in Chicago. And my whole life was changed in one weekend. I mean, I woke up that I could make a difference and I could help create a world that cared from everyone, you know? Robertson: And here I was. I was what? I was a junior in college. So then after that, I worked after college and grad school. I worked in that African American ghetto in Chicago with the Ecumenical Institute. And then in Malaysia, I was asked to go to Malaysia and my wife and I did [00:08:00] that, Robertson: And then. We were asked to work in South Korea, which we did. And then the work shifted from a religious to secular is we now call our work the Institute of Cultural Affairs. And from there we worked in Jamaica and then in Venezuela, and then back in the US in a little community in Oklahoma Robertson: And then I also worked in poor slums and villages. So then with the UNDP. I worked in around the world giving policy advice and starting projects and programs on decentralized governance to help countries decentralize from this capital to the provinces and the cities and towns and villages to decentralize decision making. Robertson: Then my engaged Buddhist studies particularly with Han and his teachers and practice awakened me to a calling to save all sentient beings. what [00:09:00] an outrageous calling, how can one person vow to save all sentient beings? But that’s what we do in that tradition of the being a BofA. Robertson: So through mindfulness and compassionate actions. So then I continue my journey by teaching at NYU Wagner with grad students from around the world. I love that so much. Then to the present as a consultant, speaker, author, and activist locally, nationally, and globally. So Gissele has been quite a journey, and here we are in this moment together, in this wild, crazy world. Gissele: Yeah, for sure, One of the things that I really loved about your book that you emphasize that we need to have a vision for the world that we wanna create. If we don’t have a vision, then we can’t create it, right? many of us are, focusing on anti, anti-oppressive, anti crime, anti this, anti that. Gissele: But we’re not really focusing on what sort of world do we wanna create? and I’ve had conversations with so many people, and when I ask the question, if people truly [00:10:00] believe. The human beings could be like loving and compassionate, and we could create a world that would be loving and compassionate for all many people say no. Gissele: And so I was wondering, like, did you always believe that civilization could be compassionate or did you grow into that conviction? Robertson: Great question. I definitely grew into it. Yeah. even as a child, I was awakened, you know, by the plight of African Americans in my country, in our little town in Oklahoma. Robertson: So I kind of began waking up. But I wasn’t sure, how much I or we could do about it. So I really grew into that conviction through my journey around the world working in over in 55 countries, it’s interesting the number of people your podcast goes to serving people and the planet. Robertson: So. Everywhere I worked Gissele, I was touched by the local people, that people care for each other, you know, in the slums and squatter settlements, in villages, in cities, the, the rich and the [00:11:00] poor. everywhere I went regardless of the culture, the language, the races, the issues the, the local people were caring. Robertson: So my understanding is that compassion is an action. It’s not just a feeling or a thought. It’s an action to relieve suffering in oneself and in others. but suffering is never entirely eliminated. You know, in Buddhism, the first noble truth is there is suffering, and it continues, but it can be relieved as best we can with through practices, through projects, through programs, and through policies. Robertson: So what has helped me is to see, again, a deep teaching in Buddhism that each person is influenced by negative emotions of greed, fear, hatred, and ignorance. And yet we can practice with these and to become aware of them and just, and to let them go, you know, and to practice evolving into loving kindness as [00:12:00] you, as you do in in your wonderful center. Robertson: Teaching more loving, kindness, trust and understanding. We can embrace inner being that we’re all part of everything. We’re all part of each other. You know, we’re part of the living earth. We’re part of humanity. I am part of you, you are part of me. And impermanence, you know, that there is no separate permanent self. Robertson: Everything comes and goes, and yet the mystery is there’s no birth and death. ’cause you and I. we’re part of, this journey for 13.8 billion years of the universe, and yet we can, in each moment, we can take an action that relieves our own suffering and in others. So, as you said, a vision is so, so important. Robertson: I’m so glad you touched on that, that a vision can give us a calling to see where we can go. It can motivate us, push us, drive us to do all that we can to realize it, you know, if I have a vision for my family. To care for my family. If [00:13:00] I have a vision for my country, if I have a vision for planet Earth, that can motivate me to do all I can do to make that really happen. Robertson: So right now there are so many challenges facing humanity, climate disasters. Oh my, I’m here in Swanno where we’ve had a terrible hurricane in 2024. We’re still recovering from it. Echo side, you know, where so many species are dying of plants and animals. It’s, it’s one of the great diebacks of in evolution on earth, oligarchic, fascism. Robertson: Right now, we’re in the midst of it in my country. I can’t believe it. You know, you’re, you’re on 81. I, I thought I was, gonna die and still live in a country that believed in democracy and freedom and justice. And so now here we, I have to face what can I do about oligarchic, fascism and social and racial and gender injustice. Robertson: Other challenges, warfare. And here we are in this crazy, monstrous war [00:14:00] in the Middle East. You know, what can we do? What can I unregulated? Artificial intelligence very deeply concerns me. we’ve gotta regulate artificial intelligence so it doesn’t hurt humans and the earth. Robertson: It doesn’t just take care of itself. So, you know, it’s easy Gissele to be despairing and to give up, you know, particularly at this moment. But actually at any time in our life, we’re always tempted to say, oh, well, things will be okay, or There’s nothing I can do, you know, but neither of those is true. Robertson: There are things we can do. We can stop and breathe and continue doing what we can where we are. with what we have and who we are. We do not have to be stopped by despair or by cynicism or by hopeism. We don’t. So thank you for that question about vision. I vision still wakes me up every day and calls me forward. Robertson: I’m sure it does. You as well. Gissele: Yeah. I [00:15:00] mean, without vision, it’s like you don’t have a map to where you’re going to, right.what’s our destination if we don’t have a vision? And so this is for me, why I loved your book so much. you are helping us give a vision Gissele: I mean, the alternative is what is the alternative? there’s my next question. What happens to a society that abandons compassion? Robertson: Exactly. Well, I sort of touched on it before. it falls into ignorance and into greed. Wanting more wealth, more power. for me for my tribe and, and falls into hatred, falls into fear, falls into violence, and that’s happening now, she said. Robertson: But I love what Thich Nhat Hahn reminds us of, of is that if there is no mud, there is no lotus. And that, that means is, you know, if there is no suffering, there can be no compassion . So without suffering and ignorance, there is no compassion or wisdom, because suffering calls us to relieve it. when I see [00:16:00] my wife or children in pain, I want to help them. Robertson: or when I see others, neighbors, you know, during the pandemic, our neighbors took food and water to each other. You know, after the hurricane, neighbors brought us water. suffering calls the best from us, it can, it can also call, call other things. But again, there’s no mud. Robertson: The lotus cannot grow. So we can continue the journey step by step and breath by breath. So that’s what I’d say for now. but that’s an important question. Gissele: you said some key things including that, people have a choice. They can choose to be compassionate, or they can choose to use that fear for something else, right. Gissele: But I often hear from people, well, you know, they want institutions to change. why are the institutions more, equitable, generous, compassionate and you know, like. I don’t know if we have a vision for what compassionate institutions look like, [00:17:00] what would compassion look like at that level? Robertson: Oh, that’s where those six areas you know, the compassion would look like practicing ecological regeneration or sometimes called environmental sustainability. You know, that we we’re part of the living Earth gazelle, We’re not separate from the earth . We breathe earth air, we drink earth water. Robertson: We you know, the earth. Hurricanes come. The earth. Floods come We are earthlings. I love that word, earthlings, and so, how do we help regenerate the earth as society? And that’s why, you know, legislation aware of climate change, you know, to reduce carbon emissions. Robertson: The Paris Accord, and that’s just one example, how do we have all laws for gender equality so that women receive the same salaries as men and have the same rights. as men, we gotta have the laws, the institutions you know, and the participatory democracy, that we have a constitution. Robertson: a constitution is a vision. of what we are all about. Why are, we’re [00:18:00] together as a country, so that we can each vote and express our views and our wishes, and that government is by foreign of the people. It is. So it’s, it’s critical, you know, that we vote and get out the vote again and again and again. Robertson: And to create those laws, those institutions they care for everyone. And the socioeconomic justice. we need the laws and institutions that give full rights to people of color to people of every culture and every religion, and every gender every transgender, every human being, every living being has rights. Robertson: That’s why the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is so important. I’m so grateful that it was created earlier in the last century in my country our country cannot go to war without congressional approval. Robertson: Aha. did that just not happen? Yes. But it’s in the Constitution. the law says that we must talk about it [00:19:00] first. We must send the diplomats. We must doeverything we can before we harm anyone. War is hell. there are other ways of dialogue and diplomacy. Robertson: we can do better. But again, it takes the laws and institutions. Gissele: thank you for that. I do think that we have some sort of sense in terms of what we find doesn’t work for us, right? these institutions don’t work, they’re based on separation, isolation, punishment, and we see that they don’t work. We see that, like inequality hurts everyone. Gissele: We see that all of these things that we’re doing have a negative impact, including war. And yet we don’t change. What do you think prevents societies from becoming more compassionate? Robertson: if we’re in a society that if harming people through terrible legislation and laws and policies that makes it hard for people then have to either rebel and then they can be you know, killed. Or they have to form movements peaceful movements like the [00:20:00] Civil Rights Movement in my country, you know, with Martin Luther King leading peace marches and our peaceful resistance, in Minneapolis, the peaceful resistance to ice, so what one big thing that’s, that makes people think they can’t be compassionate again, is the, larger society, you know, the institutional frameworks and legislations and laws and government practices. Robertson: But even then, as we’re seeing, you know, in Minneapolis and everywhere, and Canada is leading in so many ways, I think I, I’m so grateful for the leadership of your, your prime minister, calling the world thatwe must not let go of the international rules rules based international practices that we’ve had for the last 80 years, my whole life. Robertson: You know, we’ve had the, the UN and the international rules and now some powers want to throw those out, but no, no, we are gonna say no. we’re [00:21:00] surrounded by forces of wealth and power as we know. And however we can each do what we can to care for those near hand, far away, the least the last, and the last for ourselves, moment by moment. Robertson: Breath, breath by breath. And sometimes we, the people can change history and the powerful can choose compassion. And, we’ve changed history many times. We’ve created democracy. We, the people who have created civil right. Universal education and healthcare of the UN and much more. Robertson: you touched a moment ago on the pillars of a compassionate civilization. You know, there are 17 UN sustainable development goals, as you know, but I decided 17 was a big number, so I thought, why don’t we just have six? That’s why my book, it has six arenas of transformation for ease of memory and work. Robertson: and they are environmental sustainability, gender equality, socioeconomic justice, participatory governance, cultural tolerance, peace and nonviolence. So modern [00:22:00] societies can be prevented from being compassionate also by Negative emotions as we were talking about, of ignorance, greed, hatred, and violence. Robertson: Greed thinking, I need more wealth. I’m a billionaire, but I need another billion. You know, I’m the richest billionaire in the world, but I wanna buy the US government hatred, violence. So these all for me, all back into the Buddhist wisdom of the belief that I’m a separate self. Robertson: Therefore, all that’s important is my ego. Hell no, that’s wrong. You know, my ego is not separate. When I die, my ego’s gone. You know, all that’s gonna be left when I die, or my words and my actions, my actions will continue forever. my words will continue forever. May I, ego? No. So the, if I believe my ego is all there is, and I can be greedy and hateful and fearful and violent, but ego, unlimited pleasure and narcissism, fear of the other, ignorance of cause and effect, these don’t have to drive us. So [00:23:00] structures and policies based on negative emotions and the delusion of a separate self and harm for the earth. We don’t have to live that way. We don’t have to believe propaganda and misinformation and ignorance, and we can provide the education needed and the experience. Robertson: We don’t have to accept wealth hoarding. You know, why do we have billionaires? Why isn’t $999 million enough? Why doesn’t that go to care for everyone and to care for the earth? So again, we have to let go of wealth hoarding of power hoarding. Robertson: we don’t need all that wealth. We don’t need all that power. We can, we can care for each other. We can care for the earth. Gissele: There, there are so many amazing things that you said. I wanted to touch on two the first one is that I was having a conversation with an indigenous elder, and he said to me, you know, that greed is just a fear of lack, right? Gissele: And it really stopped me in my tracks because, when we see people hoarding stuff in their [00:24:00] house, we think, well, that’s abnormal. And yet we glorify the hoarding of wealth. But it isn’t any different than any sort of other mental health issue in terms of hoarding. And so that really got me to think about the role of fear. Gissele: And, if somebody’s trying to hoard money, it’s not getting to the root of the problem, issue. It’s never gonna be enough because they’re just throwing it into an empty hole. It’s a a billion Jillian, it’s never gonna be enough because it’s never truly addressing the problem. Gissele: But one of the things that you said as we were chatting is, that the wealthy, the elite, they can choose compassion, they can always choose it, which is an amazing insight. And yet I wonder, you know, in terms of people’s perspectives of compassion and power, do you think that the two go hand in hand or can they go hand in hand? Gissele: Because I think there might be some worries around, well, if I’m more compassionate, then I’m gonna be, taken advantage of, I’m gonna be, a mat. what is your [00:25:00] perspective? Robertson: Oh, I agree with everything you said and your question is so, so important. Thank you so much. Robertson: there are billionaires and then there are billionaires like Warren Buffet. Look, he’s given. Tens of billions of dollars away, hundreds of billions of dollars away, and other billionaires have done that. And then there are the billionaires, who think 350 billion isn’t enough. Robertson: You know, I need more. Well, that’s crazy. That is sick. That is sad that, that is a disease. And we have to help those people. I feel compassion for billionaires who think they need another 10 billion or another a hundred billion, or they need five more a hundred million dollars yachts, or they need another 15 $200 million houses around the world and that that is very sad. Robertson: And that they’re really suffering. They’re confused. Yeah. They forget what it means to be human. They’ve forgotten what it needs to be. An earthling that we’re just here for a moment. Gissele: Agree. Robertson: We’re just here for a moment, for a [00:26:00] breath, and we’re gone. Breathe in, we’re here, breathe out, we’re gone. And so we can stop. Robertson: We can become aware of that fear, as you said. We can take good care of that fear. I love the way Thich Nhat Hahn says. He says, hello, fear, welcome back. I’m gonna take good care of you. Fear. I’m gonna watch you take care of you. You’re gonna Evolve. ’cause everything is impermanent. Everything changes. So fear will change. Robertson: Fear can change. Fear always changes It evolves into Another emotion, another feeling, So let it go. Let it go. In the truth of impermanence. ’cause everything is impermanent. Fear is impermanent. So we also can remember the truth of inter being that I am part of what I fear, I am part of. Robertson: This current federal administration. You know, I’m part of the wealthy elite, and it is part of me. I fear of the US administration right now, but it is part of [00:27:00] me and I’m part of it. I fear climate change, but it is part of me. I’m part of it. I fear artificial intelligence , unregulated. I fear old age, but boys, I’m 81 and a half, it’s here. Robertson: So I’m gonna take care of it. I’m gonna say, Hey, old man, I’m gonna take care of you. And they’re all me. There’s no separation. I love Thich Nhat Hahn’s word. We enter are, we enter are now, how can I stop, become aware of fear, breathe in and out, and know the truth of inter being and impermanence and accept it. Robertson: Care for it. get out to vote, care for the self, write , speak, do what I can to care for what I can. My family, my neighbors, my city, my county, my country, my world. And everything changes. Everything passes away. Everything comes in and out of [00:28:00] being, what happened to the Roman Empire? Gissele: Mm, Robertson: what’s happening to the American Empire. Everything comes in and goes out like a breath, breathing in and breathing out. And then everything transforms into what is next? What is next? what is China going to bring? Ah, there is so much that we don’t know, Robertson: I love Thich Nhat Hahn’s teaching that. when we become aware of a negative emotion, we should Stop, breathe, smile. And then say, oh, welcome. Fear. Welcome back. Okay, I’m gonna take care of you. Okay, we’re in this together. Robertson: And then you just, you keep breathing in awareness and gratitude and things change. Your grandkid calls you, your baby calls you, your dog, your cat. You see the clouds, you see the earth, the sun. You see a star. You realize you’re an [00:29:00] animal. You know the word animal means breath. Robertson: We are animals. ’cause we breathe. We’re all breathing. So I love that. You know it. I love to say I am an animal. ’cause I, you know, we, human beings are often not, we’re not animals. We’re superior To animals, you know? Right. we are animals, that’s why we love our dogs and cats and we can love our, the purposes and the elephants and the tigers and the mountain lions and, and the cockroaches and the chickpeas and the cardinals we are all animals. Robertson: We’re all breathing. So I love that. Gissele: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that was so beautiful. I felt that also, I really appreciated the practice too. In this time when we, like so many us are, are feeling so much fear and so much uncertainty and not knowing how things are gonna pan out, to just take a moment to breathe and reconnect to our true selves, I think is so, so fundamental. Gissele: And I hope that listeners are also doing it with us. you know, as I have [00:30:00] conversations with people around the world we talk a lot about, the way that the systems are set up, the institutions. Gissele: And it took a lot of hard work for me to realize that we are the institutions, just like you said, so the institutions are made up of people. And I was so glad to see that in your book, that you clearly say, you know, like it’s about people. It’s about us. It’s like we make up these institutions, you know? Gissele: And when I’ve looked at myself, I’ve asked myself, who do I wanna be? What do I really, truly wanna embody? And my greatest wish for this lifetime is to embody the highest level of love and to truly get to the point where I love people like brothers and sisters, that I care for them and that we care for one another. Gissele: And yet, there are times when I wanna act from that place, but the fear comes up, the not wanting or not trusting or believing when the fear comes up, how can compassion really help us change ourselves so that we can create a [00:31:00] different world? Robertson: What you said is so beautiful, and your question is so powerful. Thank you. Yes. And I’m gonna get personal here. we can do what we can, we can take care of ourselves, we can take care of others as we can, but we shouldn’t beat ourselves up when we can’t. You know? Robertson: So I, here I’m 80, I’m over 81, and I have issues with balance and walking, and I have some memory issues and some low energy issues. So I have to be kind to myself. I, so I’ve just decided that writing is my main way of caring for the world. That’s why I publish one or two essays a week on Substack, on Compassionate Conversations for 55 countries in 38 states. Robertson: And so I said, you know, I used to travel around the world all the time. Not anymore. I don’t even want like to travel around the county. Robertson: Anyway, I’m an elder , so I have to say , okay, elder, be kind to [00:32:00] yourself, but also do everything you can, write everything you can speak with Gazelle if you can. Robertson: I also have to decide who I’m gonna care for. I’ve decided I’m gonna care for my wife who just turned 70 and my two kids and my two grandkids, my daughter-in-law, my cousins and nieces and nephews, my neighbors here and North Carolina. Robertson: The vulnerable, you know, I give to nonprofits who help the hungry and the homeless to friends and to people around the world through my writings and teachings And so the other day I drove to get some some shrimp tacos for my wife and me for dinner. Robertson: And a lady came up and she had disheveled hair. And she just stood by my car and I put the window down a little and she said. can you drive me to Black Mountain? that’s not where we were. I was in another town. ‘ cause I’m out of my medicine. Robertson: She just, out of the blue said, stood there and said that. And I thought, [00:33:00] oh, oh, hmm. Oh, so, oh yes. So I, I wanted to say, but who are you? How are you? Do you live here? Do do you have any friends or family? Do you, you, can I give you some money? Do you have, but I was kind of, I was kind of struck dumb, you know? Robertson: I thought, oh, oh, what should I do? And so I said, oh, I’m so sorry I don’t live in Black Mountain. And she said, oh. And she just turned and walked away and she asked two other cars and they said no. And then she walked away. And then she walked away. I thought, oh, Rob, Rob, is she okay? Does she have a family? Robertson: Did she have a house? What if she doesn’t get her medicine? How can she walk to that town? Could you have driven her and delayed taking dinner home to your wife? And then I said, but I don’t know. And then I thought, oh, but she’s gone. And I then I said, okay, Rob. Okay, Rob, [00:34:00] you’ve lived 81 years. You’ve cared for people in the UN in 170 countries. Speaker 3: Yeah. Robertson: And you’ve been in 55 countries, you’re still writing every week, you’re taking care of your neighbors and family and friends. Don’t beat yourself up. Old guy. Don’t beat yourself up. But next time, you know what Rob, I’m gonna say, Hey, my dear one, are you okay? I don’t have any money, but I can I buy you? Robertson: We are here at the taco shop, Can I buy you dinner? I would, I’m gonna say that next time, Rob. I’m gonna say that. and then I also gazelle,I’m gonna support democratic socialist institutions. You know, some people are afraid of that word, democratic socialist. Robertson: But you know, the happiest countries in the world are democratic socialist countries. Finland is the world’s happiest country. Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Iceland, those are in the top 10 [00:35:00] when they’ve, when there have been analysis of, if you, if you Google happiest countries in the world, Robertson: those Nordic countries come up every year. Why? They are democratic socialist countries. You pay high taxes and everybody gets free college. You know, free education, free college, free health everybody gets taken care of in a democratic socialist country in the Nordic countries and New York City. Robertson: I’m so proud that our new mayor in New York City Zoran Mai is a democratic socialist. He is there to help everybody, but particularly those who are hurting the poor, the hungry , the sick, or the people of color, women, the elderly, the children. I’m so proud of him and I write about him on my substack and I write him Robertson: I he’s one of my heroes just like Bernie Sanders is one of my heroes. And Alexandria Ocasio Cortes, a OC is one of my, my heroes, CA [00:36:00] Ooc. So, and you know, I used to never tell anybody I was a Democratic socialist ’cause I was afraid. I thought, oh, they’ll think I’m a socialist. Hell no. I am now proud to say I’m a democratic socialist. Robertson: I’m a Democrat. I vote the Democratic ticket, but I’m always looking for progressives, progressive Democrats, you know, democratic socialist Democrats. because, you know, our country can be more like Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Iceland New York City. New York City is showing us the way America can be like a New York City. Robertson: I’m so proud of New York City and I used to live in New York City so as an old person. I can only do what I can do. and I’m not saying, oh, I poor me. I can’t do anything. No, no. I’m not saying that. I’m saying I can do a hell of a lot as this 81-year-old, it’s amazing what I can do, but that is why I write and speak and care for my family, neighbors, friends, the poor. Robertson: [00:37:00] Donate to nonprofits for the homeless and the hungry vote. Get out the vote. So yes, that’s my story. Gazelle. Gissele: I totally relate. I mean, I’ve been in circumstances like that as well, where you wanna help. But the fear is like, what if a person kills you? What if they don’t really have medication? Gissele: What if you get hurt or they try to rob you or they have mental health problems? Mine goes to protection and it is very human of us to go there first. And so, so then we get stuck in that ping pong in that moment and then the moment passes and you’re like, you know, was it true? Could I have driven that person? Gissele: And that would’ve been something I wanted to do for sure. But in that moment, you are stuck in that, yo-yo, when the survival comes in. And so helping ourselves shift out of that survival mode, understanding and learning to have faith and trust. And for me that’s been a work in progress. Gissele: It really has been a work in [00:38:00] progress. The other thing I wanted to mention, which I think is so important that we need to touch on. It’s the whole concept of socialism. So I was born in South America before I came to Canada and so I remember lots of my family members talk about this, there’s many South American countries that got sold communism, as socialism we’re talking about approaches that instead of it being like a democratic socialism that you’re talking about, which is the government, make sure that people are taking care of and that the people are probably taxed and provided for what would happen in those countries was that. Gissele: Everything got taken away. People were rationed certain things, and, it was horrible. it was not good, but it was not socialism. And there was many governments that took the majority of the money, then spent it on themselves, left the country, took it themselves, and so especially the Latin American community is very much afraid of socialism because they think back to that, the [00:39:00] rationing of electricity, the rationing of food, the rationing of all of that stuff, it wasn’t provided openly. Gissele: It was, everybody gets less. And so you have these people with this history that then have come to the US and think they don’t want socialism. They think democracy means that people aren’t gonna take stuff away from them, but that’s not what it means either. ’cause I don’t even know if like in North America we have a true democracy. Robertson: so thinking about reframing of how we think or experience democratic socialism, that it doesn’t mean less for everybody and in everything controlled by the government. It means being provided for abundantly and, also having the citizens be taxed more, which means we are willing to share our money so that we can all live well, Beautiful. Beautiful. Oh, thank you. Hooray. Wonderful. What country are you? May I ask where you coming? Gissele: Yeah, of Robertson: course. Gissele: Peru, I Gissele: [00:40:00] Yeah. Robertson: Wonderful. I’ve been to Peru a few times. A wonderful, beautiful country. And I, I lived in Venezuela for five years. ‘ cause I love, I have many friends in Venezuela. Robertson: But anyway I agree with everything you just said. That’s why I said what I said that I now can, I can confess that I am a democratic socialist. And that’s not socialism. It’s a social democracy is what it’s called. Yeah. That’s what they call it in Finland and Denmark and so on. Robertson: They call it social democracy. It’s democracy. But it, as you say, it’s cares for everyone and for the earth. We have to always add and the earth, ’cause you know, all the other species and, and the other life forms and the ecosystems, the water, the soil, the air, the minerals the plants, the animals. Robertson: and we have the money, as you said. I mean, if I had $350 billion, think of what taxes I could pay if the tax rate was, you know, 30%. [00:41:00] And rather than nothing, some of these, some of these folks pay, Gissele: well, I think we have glorified that we all wanted that, right? Like we got sold this good that oh, we should all want to be as wealthy as possible, right? And so we normalize the hoarding of money. Not the hoarding of other stuff, right? Gissele: And so we have allowed that, which gets me to my, next point, you talk about the environmental impact as part of a compassionate society, which absolutely is necessary. Gissele: And as human beings, we can be so lazy. We want convenience. We want to, have our package the next day. We don’t wanna wait. are we willing to pay higher wages? Are we willing to wait? Longer for our packages, like, are we willing to, invest in our wardrobe instead of buying fast fashion? Gissele: We don’t do these things and these have environmental impacts, and it also have human impacts, and at the end, they have impact on us. What can we do to ensure that, that we address that [00:42:00] complacency so that we are creating a fair, affordable , and compassionate world. Robertson: So important. Thank you. Robertson: It’s, it’s a life and death question. So yes, we should always ask about ecological and social impacts and take actions accordingly. That’s why I recycle every day. You know, some people say, oh, recycling is stupid. What do they really do with this, with it? You know, are they, are they really careful when you, they pick it up? Robertson: but I recycle religiously every day That’s why I support climate and democracy through third act. There’s a group that Bill McKibbon has started here in the US called Third Act. It’s a group of elder activists, activists over 60 who are working on climate and democracy issues. Robertson: So I’m doing that. That’s why I vote and get it out to vote. And as I said, I vote for Democrats and Democratic socialists. That’s why I write and speak and vote for ecological regeneration for social justice, for peace, for [00:43:00] democratic governance. It’s so critical that we keep questioning our actions like. Robertson: Okay, why am I recycling? Is it really worth the time? You know, deciding about every item, where it goes, and then putting out it out carefully and rinsing it first. And is that really going to help the world? ’cause you also know we need systemic changes, because you can always say, oh, but what the individual does doesn’t matter. Robertson: We need laws, we need institutions of ecological regeneration, and we need laws on caring for the climate and stopping climate change. So you can talk yourself out of individual responsibility when you realize that we need laws and institutions that protect the environment. Robertson: But it’s both. It’s both. what each person does, because there are millions of us individuals. So if there are millions of us act responsibly, that has, is a huge impact. And then if we [00:44:00] also have responsible laws and institutions that care for the environment as well as all people, then that’s a double win. Robertson: So I agree with you. We have to keep asking that question over and over and making those decisions and they’re hard decisions. We have to decide. Gissele: Yeah, I’ve had to look at myself like one of the commitments I’ve made to myself is not buying fast fashion. And so, investing in pieces, even though sometimes I feel lack oh my God, spending that much money on this, you know? Gissele: Yeah. It all comes back to me. if I am not willing to pay a fair wage, that means that the next person doesn’t get a fair wage, which means they don’t wanna pay a fair wage and so on and so forth. And then it comes back to me, you know, my husband has a business and then, you get people that don’t also wanna pay a fair wage. Gissele: It’s all interconnected. And so we have to be willing, but that also goes to us addressing our fear, our fear of lack, that we’re not gonna have enough. All of those things. And the biggest fundamental [00:45:00] fear, and you mentioned death to me, is the ultimate Gissele: fear That we must overcome I think once we do, like, I think once we understand that we are not, this human vessel. Gissele: that we’re not just this bag of bones and live in so much constrained fear that perhaps we could. really open up ourselves to be willing to be more compassionate . What do you think? Robertson: Absolutely. I’m with you all the way. Yes. We fear death because we’re caught in that illusion of a separate permanent self. Robertson: You know, it’s all about me. Oh, this universe is all about me. The universe was created 13.8 billion years for me. Robertson: Yeah. But it’s all about me and particularly my ego, honoring my ego. Building up my ego, praising my ego being, you know, that’s why I wanna be rich and famous. Robertson: Fortunately, I never wanted to be rich or famous, but that’s another story. We’ll talk about that some other time. But everything and [00:46:00] everyone is impermanent. When I realized that truth and it, it came to me through engaged Buddhism, but you could, you could get that truth in many, many ways. Robertson: That everything and everyone is impermanent. we’re part of the ocean. But the waves don’t last forever, do they? But the ocean lasts forever. Robertson: So My atoms, are part of the 13.8 billion year old universe. my cells are part of the living earth. Yes, they remain When I die, you know, go back into the earth. back into the soil and the water and the air but My ego doesn’t remain. What, what remains, as I said before, are my actions. Robertson: Everything I did is still cause and effect. Cause and effect. Rippling out. Rippling out. Okay. Rob, what did you do? What did you say? did you help that, did you touch that? Did you say that? so my actions and words continue rippling forever. So Ty calls that, or in the Plum Village tradition of engaged Buddhism, it’s called my continuation. Robertson: Your actions and your words [00:47:00] are your continuation that last forever as your actions and words will continue through cause and effect touching reality forever. So when my ego does not remain so I can smile and let it go. I often think about my continuation. You know, I say, well, that’s why, maybe why I’m writing so much and speaking so much. Robertson: And caring for so many people every day, you know, caring to care for my wife and my children and grandchildren and friends and neighbors, and the v vulnerable and the hungry, and the homeless, and the, and my country, and my city, and my county, and my, and why do I write substack twice a week? Robertson: And containing reflections on ecological, societal, and individual challenges and practices. And so every, week I’m writing about practices of mindfulness and compassion. So I’m trying to be the teacher. I’m trying to send out words of mindfulness and compassion so that they will continue reverberating when I’m dust, Robertson: So [00:48:00] I’m reaching out. In my substack to just those 55 people in 55 countries, in 38 states, touching hearts and minds and even more on social media. every month I have like 86,000 views of my social media. Why do I do it? It’s not just about ego, you know? Robertson: Oh, Rob, be famous. No, Rob is not famous. I’m a nobody. I gotta keep giving and giving and giving, you know, another word, another action, so I can, care for people around me through personal care, donations, voting, volunteering workshops, I’m helping start a workshop in our neighborhood on environmental resilience through recycling, through group facilitation. Robertson: I’m trained in, facilitation. I’ve been trained my whole life to ask questions of groups so they can create their own plans and strategies and actions. that’s some of my answer. Robertson: I hope that makes some sense. Gissele: Thank you very much. I appreciated your answer and it made me really think you are one of our compassionate leaders, right? [00:49:00] You’re, you’re kind of carving the way and helping us reflect, ’cause I’ve seen some of your substack, I’ve seen like your postings. Gissele: That’s actually how I kind of reached out to you. ’cause I was so moved by the material that you were sharing, the willingness to be honest about what it takes to be compassionate and how hard it can be sometimes to look at ourselves honestly, because we can’t change unless we’re willing to look at ourselves. Gissele: All aspects of ourselves, like you said, we are the billionaires, we are the oligarchy, we are all of these people. The racism that voted that in the, the racism that continues to show the fear, all of that is us. And so from your perspective, what do compassionate leaders do differently? Robertson: Yes. Well, it great question. Robertson: what do compassionate leaders do differently? Well, he or she or they. Robertson: are empathic. I think it starts with empathy. What are like, what are you feeling? What are you thinking? Robertson: What are you, what’s happening in your life? So an empathic [00:50:00] leader listens to other people. They see where other people are hurting. They care. They ask questions and facilitate group discussions, enable group projects. They let go of self-importance, you know, that it’s not all about me. Robertson: They let go of narcissism. They let go of, the ego project. They help others be their greatness. They care for their body mind so that they can care for others. and they donate and vote and recycle and more and more and more and more. did you know in Denmark. In elementary school every week, children are taught empathy. Robertson: You know, they have courses on empathy, Robertson: when I was growing up, I,didn’t have courses in school on empathy in church school, you know, in my Sunday school at, in my church. I was taught to love my neighbor and to love everyone, and that God was love. But in school, in my elementary [00:51:00] school and junior high and high school, we didn’t talk about things like empathy and compassion. Gissele: Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. I did know about Denmark ’cause my daughter and I are co-writing a book on that particular topic. The need to continue to teach love and compassion in, Gissele: being a global citizen. Right? And, and I’m doing it with her perspective because she just graduated high school, so she has like the fresher perspective, whereas mine’s from like many moons ago. Gissele: We need to continuously educate ourselves about regulating our own emotions, having difficult conversations, hearing about the other, other, as ourselves. Because that’s, from my perspective, the only way that we’re gonna survive. a friend of mine said it the best that we were having a conversation and she does compassion in the prison system and she says, I can’t be well unless you are well. Gissele: My wellness depends on your wellness. And that just hit me in my heart, like, ugh. Not that I live it every day, Robertson, Gissele: every day I have to choose and some [00:52:00] days I fail, and other days I do good in terms of like be more loving and compassionate and truly helping the world. But it’s a choice. It’s a continual choice. So this goes to my biggest challenge that maybe you can help me with, which is, so I was having this conversation with my students. We were talking about how. In order to create a world that is loving and passionate for all, it has to include the all, even those who are most hurtful, and that is really difficult . Gissele: I’m just curious as to your thoughts on what starting point might be or what can help us look at those who do hurtful things and just horrible things and be able to say, I see God within you. I see your humanity. Even though it might be hard. Robertson: Yes, It is hard. several years ago when I would hear [00:53:00] leaders of my country speaking on the media, I would get so repulsed that I would turn it off but I began practicing. Robertson: I practiced a lot since those days and I realized, you know. People who hurt, other people are hurting themselves. they’re actually hurting. they’re suffering. People who hurt others have their own suffering of, they’re confused. they’ve forgotten what it means to be human. Robertson: They’re, full of, greed, of their own fears, all about me. Maybe they’re filled with hatred they become violent. they’re suffering. I still find it very difficult to read or listen to certain people. Robertson: But what I do is I stop and I breathe and I smile and I say, okay. Robertson: I care. I’m concerned about you. I don’t know what I can do, but I am gonna do everything I can to care for the people, being hurt, you know, like my fellow activists in [00:54:00] Minneapolis are doing, or elsewhere, we could mention many places around the world where people are risking their own lives. Robertson: You know, in Minneapolis, two activists were killed, Ms. Good Renee Good, and Alex Pretty were killed because they went beyond their fear, you know? they got out there in the street because the migrants were being hurt and they got killed. Robertson: So, you know, At some point you have to come to terms with your own death, I don’t know if I have a, a minute to go or 20 years, I still have to let go. And so how do I care for my wife, my family, my friends, my neighbors my country, the vulnerable, the homeless, the hungry, and, as you said, for the wealthy and powerful who are hurting others, you know, starting wars attacking migrants, killing activists. Robertson: It’s hard. You know? So I have to say, I love the story of [00:55:00] when during the Vietnamese war Thich Nhat Hahn and his monks. They did not take sides. They did not say we’re on the side of the Vietnamese or the us. They did not take a side in the war. This is hard for me ’cause I, I usually take sides. Robertson: The practice was, okay, we’re not going to support we’re Vietnamese or the us. Were going to care for everyone. So they just went out caring for people who were getting hurt and during the war, people who were hungry, people who needed food, people who were bleeding, Robertson: So they decided their role was to care for those who were hurt not to attack. To say, I’m for the blue and I’m against the red. They said, I’m just gonna, care . Like, the activists in Minnesota, They’re, they’re not attacking ice, they’re singing to ice. Robertson: And so yes, we have to acknowledge our own anger. [00:56:00] I’m angry with these politicians. sometimes I want, to hate them, but I have to say, I do not hate you, my friend. You are confused. You’re so confused. You’re hurting others. So you’re so hurtful. Robertson: You don’t realize how you’re hurting others. But, I’ve got to try to stop you from hurting others. I’ve got to try to help those who are hurt and maybe I’m gonna get hurt, you know, because in the civil rights movement, if you’re out there doing on a peace march, you might get beaten up. Robertson: as I said, I’ve lived in villages, poor villages, and. Urban slums in several countries. And some people could say, well, that’s stupid. You could get hurt. You know, you could, you could as a white person living in a African American slum or in a Korean village or in a Venezuelan village, Robertson: So, you know, I say, was I stupid? Was I risking and I was with my wife and children? Was I risking the lives of my wife and children by living in slums and, and villages? Yes. Was I stupid? I mean, [00:57:00] no, I wasn’t stupid, but I was risking our lives. But I somehow, I was, called I wanted to do it. I said, okay. Robertson: but my point is it’s risky, you know? And you have to keep working with yourself. That’s why I love the word practice. Robertson: You know, in Buddhism we keep practicing, and I love your, the teaching of that you have on your website of Pema Chodron, you know, on self-love. You know, you have to keep practicing. How do I love myself? Say, okay, I’m afraid and I’m just this little white person, but or I’m this little old white person, but I’m gonna do everything I can and be everything I can. Robertson: I really appreciated the story of Han not choosing sides. I mean, you’re right. If we are going to see each other’s brothers and sisters and is is one global family, we can’t pick a side over the other, even though we so want to. Gissele: And, and I’m with you. when I think that there’s a [00:58:00] unfairness, when there’s people that are vulnerable or suffering, I’m more likely to pick to the side that is like, oh, that person is suffering. They’re the victim. But what you said is spot on. People that truly lovewho have love in their heart, like when you were raised with love. Gissele: You had love to give others because your cup was full. So it overflowed to want to help others, to want to love others. People that are hurting, that don’t have love in their hearts are those that hurt other people. Robertson: Mm-hmm. Gissele: They must because they must be so separated from their own humanity. Robertson: Yes, yes, yes. Gissele: And yet things are changing. You mentioned Minnesota, and I wanted to mention that I love that they’re doing the singing chants, and they’re not making them wrong. they’re singing chants like you can change your mind. You don’t have to be wrong. You don’t have to experience shame and guilt for the choice you’ve made. You can always change your mind. And in your book, you talk a lot about movements. Do you wanna [00:59:00] share a little bit about the power of movements and helping us create a compassionate civilization? Robertson: Oh, yes. Thank you. I’m, I’m a big movement fan. it started in college with the Civil Rights Movement. I realized, wow, you know, if a lot of people get together and do something together, it can make a difference. Like the Civil Rights movement. Gissele: Yeah. Robertson: And the women’s movement and peace movement. Robertson: And like in Vietnam, the peace movement, we could really make a difference if we get out in March. I think that being an individual or part of an organization that is part of a movement can be a powerful force. And so I focus in my life and that, that book on the six movements that I’ve mentioned, and those movements can work together. Robertson: And when they work together, they become a movement of movements. They become mom. Hmm. I like that because I I’m a feminist and I think that we need so [01:00:00] desperately we need more feminine energy inhumanity and in civilization. Robertson: So I’m a unapologetic feminist. And so that’s why I like that the movement of movements, the acronym is Mom, you know, and so it’s the Moms of the World will lead us like you. And so they’re the movements of ecological regeneration, socioeconomic justice, I’m repeating gender equality, participatory governance, cultural tolerance, peace and non-violence. Robertson: And you know, we also have the Gay Rights Movement, the democracy movement. there’s so many movements that it made a huge difference. So. I began saying that I, after writing the book, I said, okay,now my work is the work of the Compassionate Civilization Collaborative. Robertson: And I decided I wouldn’t make an organization, I it, wouldn’t have a website, I wouldn’t register it. I wouldn’t raise money for it. It would just be anybody and everybody [01:01:00] who was part of the movement of movements who was working to create a compassionate civilization. Robertson: So that’s what I did. And that’s where I am. I’m this old guy in my home. I don’t get out a lot. I don’t drive a lot. I just drive to nearby town. I have a car, but I don’t use it a lot. I don’t like to walk up and down hills. Robertson: IAnd sometimes I can’t remember things and I say, Hey, but look, you have so many friends all over the world and you can keep encouraging through your writing. So that’s why I keep writing, you know, it is for the movement of movements. Robertson: I guess that’s why I write. here’s something I want to share, something I thought or felt or something that I wrote about. And maybe it will touch you. Maybe it’ll encourage you. Maybe we’ll help you in your life. Robertson: I live in a homeowners association neighborhood. It’s a neighborhood that has a homeowners association. We’re 34 families and we have straight families, gay families. we have white families and non-white families. [01:02:00] We have Democrats, Republicans and Socialists. Robertson: We have Christians and Buddhists and Hindus. And so what I do, I say, Hey, we’re all neighbors. We all helped each other during the pandemic. We all helped each other after the hurricane. It doesn’t matter what our politics are or our religion or our sexuality, we’re all human beings. Robertson: We’re all gonna die. we all want love. We all want happiness. And We can be good neighbors. We don’t have to have ideology, you know, we don’t have to quote the Bible, we don’t have to quote Buddha. We can just be good neighbors. So we’re gonna have a workshop this spring And so we’re all going to get together down the street in this big room, in the fire station, and we’re gonna have a two hour workshop. And will it help? I don’t know. Will it make us better neighbors? I don’t know. Why am I doing it? I’m driven to do it. I’ve done workshops all over the world and I wanna do a workshop in my neighborhood. Robertson: I’ve done workshops with the un, I’ve done [01:03:00] workshops with governments, with cities So I love to facilitate. I love getting people together to solve problems together to listen to each other, respect each other, to honor each other. Gissele: so I’m just gonna ask you a couple more questions. But I’m just gonna make a comment right now about what you said because I think it’s so important. Gissele: Number one is I love that your neighborhood is a microcosm of what our world could be like . The fact that people got together to help and make sure that people were taken care of. If we could amplify that, that could be our world. I think that’s such a beautiful thing. Gissele: And the other thing that I think is really fundamental is that even through your life, you are showing us that some people are going to go pickett. And that’s okay. Some people are gonna write blogs to help us, and that’s okay. Some people are gonna do podcasts, and that’s okay. There are things that people can do that don’t have to look exactly the same. Gissele: Some people are going to have more courage, and they’re going to put their bodies in front and potentially get hurt. Other people, maybe they can’t do [01:04:00] that. So there are many different ways to help. The other thing that you said that was really, really key is the importance of moms . And that was one of the things that really touched me about your book, the acronym. Gissele: I was like, oh my God, I so resonate with this. Because I do feel that we need more feminine energy. We really kind of really squash the feminine energy. But the truth of the matter is we need more because fundamentally, nurturance is a mother energy is a feminine energy. Gissele: Compassion’s a feminine energy. Yes, yes, yes, Robertson: yes, yes, Gissele: so if I can share my story. Last night I was at hockey game. My son was playing hockey. Robertson: Mm-hmm. Gissele: And our team they don’t like to fight. Gissele: We play our game and we have fun and we’re good. And so the previous teams that were there, it was under Youth 15, most of the game was the kids fighting. And taking penalties. And so the game ends, the people come off the ice and two men that are starting to get like into a fight [01:05:00] now, woman got in front of them. Gissele: Wow. and said, we all signed a form that said, this is just a game. Remember who this is for? even though she was elevated, she totally stopped that fight between two men that we were not small. And So it was, it was really interesting. Robertson: Wonderful. Gissele: it was a woman who actually stopped a fight Gissele: It’s the feminine power. And that doesn’t mean, and I wanna make this clear, that doesn’t mean that men have to be discarded or have to be treated the same way that women are treated. ’cause I think that’s a big fear. That’s a big fear that some white males have. It’s no, you don’t have to be less than, Robertson: right. Robertson: We need Gissele: to uplift the feminine energy. So there’s a balance. ’cause right now we’re not balanced. Robertson: Exactly. Exactly. Oh, boy. Am I with you there? there’s a whole section in my book, as you noticed on gender equality I’m gonna read a tribute to Mothers I. Robertson: Tribute to Mothers Giving Birth to New Life, nurturing, [01:06:00] sustaining, guiding, releasing, launching, affirming Love. Be getting Love a flow onwards. Mother Earth, mother Tree, mother Tiger, mother Eve. My grandmother’s Sally and Arie, my mother, Mary Elizabeth, my children’s mother, Mary, my grandchildren’s mother, Jennifer, my grandchildren’s grandmothe

Thich Nhat Hahn's revision of the Heart Sutra by Ordinary Mind Zen School

To learn about The Freedom Project - Click here In this Dead Talk episode, two seemingly opposite voices—Milton Friedman and Thích Nhất Hạnh—come together to dismantle one of the deepest and most persistent distortions around abundance. Their shared message is clear: abundance is not something that arrives after enlightenment, worthiness, or alignment—it is the state of alignment itself. Much of our suffering around money, they explain, comes not from lack, but from misunderstanding cause and effect. When abundance is treated as a reward or result, the present moment becomes a means to an end. Together, they reframe abundance as a condition we stop interfering with rather than something we earn, manage, or deserve. Friedman brings precision and clarity, showing how treating abundance as a moral outcome distorts economic, relational, and spiritual systems. Thích Nhất Hạnh brings warmth and spaciousness, reminding us that freedom and mindfulness are daily practices—especially in the places we avoid most. They introduce the idea of a “precise life,” where challenges, delays, and tensions are not signs of misalignment but exact experiences required to develop specific capacities: tolerance for uncertainty, sensitivity to inner signals, discernment between force and flow, and the ability to stay present while resources move. The episode culminates in a powerful embodied experiment that reveals where scarcity truly lives—not in circumstances, but in the nervous system's reflex to brace and prepare for loss. Listeners are invited to let something small circulate without reassurance and notice what happens when they stop interrupting support. The central realization lands quietly but unmistakably: abundance does not arrive to make us feel safe; safety comes from trusting our ability to respond. In this way, the conversation becomes less about money and more about dissolving the illusion of separation—allowing life to support us without resistance, just in time, exactly as it always has.

After accomplished stints as a journalist, author and diplomat, and studying theology at Yale Divinity School, Krista Tippett was struck by a significant gap in the media landscape—a lack of deep, intelligent conversations to explore the spiritual, ethical and moral aspects of human life. What began as a national public radio show in 2003 evolved into the multiple award-winning podcast “⁠On Being⁠” (“wisdom to replenish and orient in a tender, tumultuous time to be alive.”) Gifted with insatiable curiosity, profound relational intelligence, a poetic sensibility, and an ability to unearth revelatory ideas to live by, Krista creates spaces where wisdom can emerge. With her interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral whole systems overview, she's hosted luminaries as disparate as Mary Oliver, Thich Nhat Hahn, Isabel Wilkerson and Desmond Tutu, among many more. Listen to this rare intimate, live interview with her friend, insightful strategist, philanthropist and activist Azita Ardakani. This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the ⁠radio and podcast homepage⁠ to learn more.

Today I'm sharing Thich Nhat Hahn's 4 elements of true love, which is a Buddhist perspective on love that I find valuable. This episode includes:Loving-kindness: May you be truly wellCompassion: Your pain is not separate from mineJoy: Your joy is my joyEquanimity/Freedom: Love that doesn't possess or controlLearn about my books hereCheck out End-of-Life University PodcastRead my latest Substack postMake a donation here

From time to time over the nearly 50 years since the establishment of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center, a significant number of its members and its affiliates in the Silent Thunder Order have complained of burning out in terms of their participation in the Zen community. Some have faded into obscurity and were never heard from again. Others have come back after years. The record for the longest hiatus is about three decades. This cohort would amount to a small percentage of the total attendance, or course, but it has been noted that more people come and go than stay. Matsuoka-roshi used to say, of some disciple that was no longer showing up, "Come-and-go type" or, "Wishy-washy type." I assume that these lost souls continue to practice in some form or other, hopefully maintaining their practice of meditation at least. And they probably retain an interest in reading about Zen and Buddhism. And I think it fair to say that if they had stayed, instead of moving on, we would have no place for most of them to sit. This is why I refer to the Zen sangha — and it is probably true of all communities — that it is like a cloud, constantly evaporating and recondensing, with new molecules of water, over time. People have real lives, other demands on their time and energy, and they always have. Master Dogen pointed out that the famous places in China were not typically comprised of large groups, but a small core of a half-dozen monks or so, with others coming and going from time to time. A cursory reading of the history of the formal transmission in Soto Zen makes this clear. Many of these encounters were short-term. So I don't worry too much about the many former members who are no longer in attendance. I do reach out from time to time if someone has suddenly disappeared who was diligently engaging on a frequent basis for some time, out of curiosity if nothing else. But I have enough to worry about, dealing with those who are presently practicing, as well as the constant flow of newcomers knocking at our doors. Most newcomers report that their first exposure to Zen is through reading — or, nowadays, listening — to a well-known teacher online, such as Thich Nhat Hahn, or Ram Dass. I had the pleasure of meeting Ram Dass in person in the 1960s, when I was teaching at the School of the Art Institute and the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle campus. Some friends of mine who knew him told me he was travelling through the area, so I asked them to connect us, and invited him to speak to one of my classes at the U of I. I still have the 1/4-inch reel-to-reel audiotape somewhere of his talk, which was his classic trip to India, giving LSD to the guru tale. I plan to have it digitized so that those who are interested can listen to it. Not to be too much of a name-dropper — near to greatness, and all that — but he came to our apartment for dinner that evening and cooked chipatis and beans for us. My friends told me later that he had told them he thought I was one of the most spiritual people he had ever met. That may have been because my apartment was full of student work, models of geometric structure studies they had done in one of my design classes.Another factoid of interest, and one of those coincidences that we say are not in Zen — he was driving a Chrysler Airstream at that time, and several years earlier, before I had graduated from the Institute of Design, my best friend at that time and I attended a talk by Claes Oldenburg, the famous Swedish-American sculptor, at the University of Chicago, at which presentation, amongst other things, we saw his life-size soft sculpture of — you guessed it — a Chrysler Airstream. But I digress. I have never heard of anyone burning out from too much study of the dharma, or too much sitting in meditation, although some naturally grow tired of too much group discussion, especially when it slides down the slippery slope of intellectualism and erudition, as has been seen many times in the history of Zen. Ch'an Master Huineng famously made a public show of burning scrolls of sutras to make this point. Dogen held that both things can be true at the same time — that the written record also contains the dharma, even though subject to the limitations of language. No, usually, problems with burnout arise in the context of serving the Zen community. Community, or sangha, is the third leg of the stool of Buddhism, joining that of dharma, the study of the teachings of Buddhism and Zen; and most centrally, buddha, the practice of zazen, or the meditation of Buddha. This is what Zen claims to transmit. Where the rubber hits the road in terms of burnout is usually in an individual's efforts to serve the sangha in ways that demand what seems to them to be a lot of time, effort, and energy, with all the opportunity costs associated with any form of contributions of one's precious time to any cause. The third rail for most or all not-for-profit enterprises such as ASZC seems to consist in serving on the board of directors. What I refer to as the "substitution effect" begins to set in — one finds oneself sitting less and less over time, the limited bandwidth available for Zen being consumed more and more by the ever-evolving demands of raising money and paying the bills; upkeep, repair and maintenance of the facility; producing and publishing online communications, newsletters, bulletins and podcasts; and, finally, the sheer pressure of administrating a robust schedule of programs of dharma study and meditation, serving a shape-shifting and ever-growing community of practitioners. As one who has been immersed in this process for going on 50 years -— ASZC was incorporated in 1977 — I am very familiar with this syndrome of overcommitting, on a personal level. But I think it may be that we are getting it backward if and when we do burn out in service to the sangha. It is easy to lose track of the central focus of Zen. The three legs of the stool are not equal in importance or effectiveness in supporting our personal practice. Buddha practice, Zen meditation, or zazen, is definitely first and foremost. Dharma, or study of the teachings, comes second and is subordinate to zazen. Without zazen there is little hope of ever comprehending buddha-dharma. Sangha, community participation and service, is a distant third, and is not really necessary, or conducive to personal practice, absent meditation and study. When we get this backward is when we tend to burn out. If I had not been continuing my meditation practice over the 60 years I have been engaged in all three dimensions, from the mid-1960s at the Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago, through the years of establishing ASZC in Atlanta, I would have burnt out long ago. Attending most of the public sessions of meditation and witnessing the evolution of the Zen lives of hundreds of individuals have reinvigorated my zeal for Zen again and again, especially during the difficult times we have endured. The evidence of my senses has convinced me ever more undoubtedly of the value and effectiveness of Zen as the Upaya, or skillful means, for our times, as Matsuoka-roshi believed. If you have found yourself experiencing burnout, please consider whether or not you see yourself in this picture. If you do your best to attend a reasonable number of our scheduled meditation programs including daily, weekly, monthly and annual opportunities, such as day sits (zazenkai), longer retreats (sesshin), classes and workshops, you will rediscover the renewable resource that is genuine Zen practice. If you have gotten entangled in the ASZC or STO administration or other demanding roles of service to the sangha, please understand that your efforts are very much appreciated, but that you may be inadvertently developing the substitution effect syndrome, which ultimately does not bode well either for your practice, or the wellbeing of the community. If you relinquish your position and function, no worries, someone else will step up. I have witnessed this again and again. There is no way to plan for, or to design around, human nature, so please do not blame the corporate entity that is the Zen community for your unhappiness. If instead you renew and reinvigorate your practice of meditation, both at home and at the Zen center, you may begin to see that the burden you are or were carrying on behalf of your fellow travelers on the Zen raft was not so onerous, after all. And that somehow, willy-nilly, what you may have seen as your vital function within the Zen community will be taken up by others. If you do not claim your place on the cushion, you may miss the point of practice altogether. Which would be a "cry and shame" as Albert the Alligator would say. And I know that dates me. Look up "Pogo the Possum" by Walt Kelly. Let me propose in closing that you apply a tried-and-true time management approach to your Zen practice. There are only 24 hours in a day, as we say, so unless we chuck it all and go join a monastery, or become a hermit, only a small fraction of those hours can be devoted specifically to our practice, as we conceive it. So let's say you create the visual of a classic clock face representing your 24-hour day. After filling in all the many other things you do to get you through the night, such as sleeping, and through the demands of your day, such as paying the rent, take a look at how much time is left over. For the sake of argument, let's say you can free up an hour a day, or maybe two. In that time, maybe an hour in the morning, and an hour in the evening, maybe more of a weekend, you commit 50% to Buddha Practice: time on the cushion; 30% to Dharma Study: reading up on the literature and joining online dialogs; that leaves 20% for Sangha Service: helping out at the center, or attending admin meetings. The very exercise of visualizing — and tracking — your time may reveal that you are not actually spending as much as you think you are, or at least allow you to cut it down to a bearable amount. The main thing it may help you do is to put the emphasis where is should be: on meditation. If you are attending zazen regularly you are already doing the most you can do to support your community. Your presence encourages them in their practice more directly and to a greater degree than financial and in-kind contributions. Although those are very important. If you join the dharma dialogs online or in person on Sunday mornings and occasionally make a contribution to the conversation, that is also a service to the sangha. It indicates your sincere interest in clarifying the Great Matter, which is the main and central purpose of the pursuit of Zen. If you do both the above and still have time to devote to supporting the programs and physical plant of the Zen center, more power to you. But please be careful not to let the tail wag the Zen dog. There is a story from the history in China, if memory serves, that illustrates this principle clearly. A monk complained that during meditation, the rain was leaking in on him through the thatched roof. The Master's response? "Move down." Why spend a great deal of time and effort patching a roof, maintaining a building, if it prevents you from sitting in zazen? The building, the corporate entity, and all other dimensions of the Zen community and its physical manifestation in the world are subject to the three marks of dukkha. They are impermanent in the long run, imperfect in their current variation, and inherently insubstantial in comparison to the effects of zazen on your consciousness. To quote the venerable Ch'an Master Sekito Kisen, from the closing line of his short but dense poem, Sandokai—Harmony of Difference and Equality: I respectfully urge you who study the mysterydo not pass your days and nights in vain

This talk was given by Hogen on May 11 2025 at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple. This is part three of a talk series on Thich Nhat Hahn's Art of Living Book. This talk is a discussion on the chapter titled Emptiness is the Door of Liberation.  ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode we share Caroline Durham's talk entitled: Refuge In the Storm: An Activist Perspective, this talk explores the four noble truths and the eightfold path, her relationship with these teachings and how we as practitioners can engage with the teachings in a meaningful way.Caroline is the Founder of Mindful Justice, lives in New Orleans and a community activist herself committed to healed communities especially those intertwined with the legal system.Here's the song Caroline referenced in the beginning of her talk:Joy and Pain Song by Frankie Beverly and MazeWhen the tides rise, how do we continue staying afloat? Living in a world where too clearly “there is always suffering,” where are the off-ramps for cessation of suffering?  What is the interwoven relationship of the Four Noble Truths that provides refuge in the storm?  In this discussion we explore the gifts that we each are - to ourselves, to one another and to the world.  Caroline Durham, founder of Mindful Justice, grounds into the dharma from a foundation of engaged Buddhism. A creative, visionary, and changemaker, Caroline interweaves the dharma with 25+ years service as a public defender and community organizer focused on healing the structural racism underlying the criminal legal system. Committed to healed, thriving communities through engaged Buddhism, her practice is grounded in the lineage of Thich Nhat Hahn through her dear mentor and friend Cherie Maples. Working on local and national level to bring about an end to the carceral state, she focuses on supporting community activists and people with lived experience with the criminal legal system and strengthening communities in the South.To connect with Caroline and find out more about Mindful Justice check out : https://mindfuljustice.today/If you found this talk helpful or insightful and you'd like to support the work Flowering Lotus Meditation is doing please show your monetary support by donating here: https://givebutter.com/activistIf you want to join us for residential meditation retreats or our online gatherings find out more at : https://www.floweringlotusmeditation.org/

TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: I Am the Lotus TODAY'S GRATITUDE PROMPT: Give thanks for making it through those muddy times and making it to the other side. FREE AFFIRMATIONS MEDITATION  3-Minute Meditation : FEEL GRATEFUL + UPLIFTED  ↓ DOWNLOAD Now  subscribepage.io/ANjf25 Practicing Gratitude is Easy Follow on Instagram @daily.tonic  

After accomplished stints as a journalist, author and diplomat, and studying theology at Yale Divinity School, Krista Tippett was struck by a significant gap in the media landscape—a lack of deep, intelligent conversations to explore the spiritual, ethical and moral aspects of human life. What began as a national public radio show in 2003 evolved into the multiple award-winning podcast “On Being” (“wisdom to replenish and orient in a tender, tumultuous time to be alive.”) Gifted with insatiable curiosity, profound relational intelligence, a poetic sensibility, and an ability to unearth revelatory ideas to live by, Krista creates spaces where wisdom can emerge. With her interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral whole systems overview, she's hosted luminaries as disparate as Mary Oliver, Thich Nhat Hahn, Isabel Wilkerson and Desmond Tutu, among many more. Listen to this rare intimate, live interview with her friend, insightful strategist, philanthropist and activist Azita Ardakani. This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to learn more.

This week's episode contains Guided Meditations found at the end of Thich Nhat Hahn's book “How To Sit”. I've spent the past three episodes reading aloud portions from this book, a third of the book at a time. Even if you have read this book, I hope my readings have allowed you to absorb the wisdom more fully. Many people have asked me for more guided meditations. Why not offer a few from the master of mindful meditation? May these guided meditations help you integrate meditation more readily. May these guided meditations build your mindfulness skills, inspire and nourish you. Happy meditating! Enjoy the podcast! Links: Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation

Today's episode brings us into the heart and philosophy of Zen Buddhism, as practiced by the Plum Village monastic community that was founded in 1982 by the Vietnamese peace activist, monk, poet, and teacher Thich Nhat Hahn. Today it has grown into Europe's largest Buddhist monastery, with over 200 resident monks and nuns, and known as one of the most actively engaged Buddhist communities offering insight on the modern world, and on the climate and ecological crises. We've spoken on the show about fragmented consciousness, a mind that sees parts and not the whole. Meditation and other Buddhist practices are one of the core ways of how we can heal minds and views. And so we will hear from two Plum Village monks: Sister True Dedication and Brother Spirit. Before entering the monastery, Sister True Dedication studied History & Political Thought at Cambridge University and worked as a journalist for BBC News. In the early years of her monastic training, she assisted Thich Nhat Hanh in their engaged Buddhist actions for human rights, religious freedom, applied ethics, and ecology. Brother Spirit began his monastic training in Plum Village in 2008, and before ordaining he studied mathematics at Cambridge and worked professionally as a composer, and as such has since composed many of the community's beloved chants. They both helped to found the international Wake Up Movement, a community of young meditators finding new ways to combine mindfulness and engaged Buddhism. We talk about:the fragmentation of consciousnesshow to hold the perspective of non duality and interbeing within unlikely contexts, and how doing so grants us agency and transformationdehumanization, de animation, and what Buddhism teaches about our relationship to other life and other intelligencesthe Mayahana Diamond Sutra (the world's earliest printed text) and its invitation for us to reconsider four key notions of existance how to find and make peace with one's activismthe seeds of wisdom that lie dormant in 4000-year-old magnolia treeshow to hold the suffering of the world and call upon our ancestors for supportspiritual bypassing, instrumentalising, and get out of jail free cards Episode Website Link Show Links: Plum VillageAbout Thich Nhat HahnZen and the Art of Saving the PlanetThay's Poetry / Please Call Me by My True Names (song & poem)Lifeworlds Meditation on Food inspired by Plum VillageMahamudra: Dr Dan BrownHope in the Dark: Rebecca SolnitGlobal OptimismLook out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes.Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock & Ellie Kidd Photo credit: Plum Village website Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this deep, thoughtful conversation, two of the men at the heart of the Climate Majority Project discuss their own journeys into eco-spirituality - what they believe it to be and why it's a core, foundational bedrock of their lives. If you follow anything else that Faith and I do together, you'll know that we believe heart-felt connection to the All That Is forms the bedrock of human existence and is the pathway to human flourishing, to our being good ancestors, to laying that foundation on which future generations can build a world where we are an integral part of the web of life. The whole of the Accidental Gods membership program exists to help people find ways to make this heartfelt connection and the Dreaming Awake contemporary shamanic training takes it more deeply. We don't often get to unpick this in depth here on the podcast. But long term friend of the podcast, the author, philosopher and academic, Rupert Read, suggested a while ago that we might like to have a three way conversation with him and Woodford Roberts who is an integral part of the Climate Majority Project of which they are both founder members. Both have been active in Extinction Rebellion. Both have moved on to believing that change happens in other ways, and both have at the core of their actions and activism a heartfelt connection to the All That Is, however we define it. We have regular guest appearances by people who work deeply in shamanic traditions, or other aspects of contemporary spirituality, but this is the first time we've had a chance to explore what we might call western 'eco-spirituality' in a way that is practiced distinctly from contemporary - or indigenous - shamanic practice. Rupert is a philosopher who has studied both Quaker and Buddhist traditions, naming Joanna Macey and Thich Nhat Hahn as his teachers. Woodford Roberts - who is called Rob within the movement - comes from a more meta-cognitive stance, but still deeply embedded within western psycho-spiritual philosophy, albeit with personal experience in the shamanic realities. So this was a deep, wide ranging, thoughtful episode and I hope it helps you to navigate your own routes to thinking, feeling and being in these turbulent times. So please welcome back Rupert Read and welcome for the first time, Woodford Roberts, both of the Climate Majority Project. Bios: Woodford Roberts is a writer based in Cornwall. With a focus on eco-spirituality and emotion, Woodford's work seeks to help readers stare down the truth of the metacrisis as he seeks to do the same, sharing his own spiritual journey of navigating the challenging terrain of a time between two worlds and the lessons found within. His work appears in Dark Mountain Books, Resurgence & The Ecologist. His first book, called 'How To Be Happy At The End Of The World' is currently in development, and he publishes on a Substack of the same name. Prof Rupert Read is co-director of the Climate Majority Project and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia. He is the author of several books, including This Civilisation is Finished, Parents for a Future, Why Climate Breakdown Matters and Do you want to know the truth? The surprising rewards of climate honesty. His spiritual teachers have included Joanna Macy and Thich Nhat Hanh.Links: Climate Majority Project https://climatemajorityproject.comRob in Resurgence https://www.resurgence.org/magazine/article3855-waking-up-to-the-world.htmlRob Substack https://howtobehappyworld.substack.com/'Kisses on the Wind' - A heartfelt essay written by Rob since our conversation (trigger warning - he discusses his own brush with suicide)  https://howtobehappyworld.substack.com/p/kisses-on-the-windXR Writers Rebel by Rob https://writersrebel.com/read-this-is-for-my-children/ Motes In A Sunbeam published with Dark Mountain  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdmr96gVFgwRupert's website https://rupertread.net/Rupert on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rupert-read-6717548/?originalSubdomain=ukRupert on Twitter https://twitter.com/GreenRupertReadArts Council-Funded Play inspired by Rupert's work  www.phoenixdodobutterfly.comRupert - Ebor Lecture in York  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ebor-lecture-earth-hope-with-professor-rupert-read-tickets-811255837047 (also available online for those not in Yorkshire) Rupert 'Thin Red Line' paper https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full/10.3366/film.2002.0023Climate Majority Culture Peace Gathering https://climatemajorityproject.com/culture-peace-gathering/Life Itself https://lifeitself.org/programs

Do we trust our thoughts more than the wisdom of our own experience? In this talk, David Lewis helps us see that our reliance on thinking and studying can be an obstacle to gaining a true understanding of reality. He outlines that Sangha can help us gain wisdom in three ways, through:Direct experience - meditating in silenceListening to Dharma talksDiscussions with each otherHaving polled his audiences for many years, David shares that Westerners tend to prefer talks and discussions over direct experience because we are conditioned to learn by doing, thinking and studying. We gravitate toward thoughts even as we try to quiet our mind. Yet meditation is not about silencing the mind, but developing a different relationship with our thoughts. He contrasts thinking with abiding in our own experience, quoting Thich Nhat Hahn that 'understanding does not arise from thinking.' And while studying and learning the Buddha's teachings is a satisfying and worthwhile activity, it is not the same as experiencing reality for ourselves in the present moment. ______________ David Lewis has been following the dharma path for 50 years and has a degree in comparative religious studies.  He teaches at several Buddhist sanghas around the Bay Area and offers a weekly meditation group for seniors (currently on Zoom) at OpenHouse, a nonprofit serving LGBTQI+ seniors.  He's always happy to return to the Gay Buddhist Fellowship, where he gave his first dharma talk in 2008. Support the show______________ To participate live and be notified of upcoming speakers in advance, please Like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/gaybuddhistfellowship) or visit https://gaybuddhist.org/calendar/ To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit www.GayBuddhist.org.There you can: Donate Learn how to participate live Find our schedule of upcoming speakers Join our mailing list or discussion forum Enjoy many hundreds of these recorded talks dating back to 1996 CREDITSAudio Engineer: George HubbardProducer: Tom BrueinMusic/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter

E338– Inner Voice – A Heartfelt Chat with Dr. Foojan. In this episode, Dr. Foojan Zeine chats with Celia Landman, MA, a mindfulness educator offering support to teens and adults. She draws from experiences working with those impacted by trauma, addiction, and anxiety and creates customized meditation, visualizations, and training to reconnect them to their wholeness. She was ordained by Thich Nhat Hahn as a member of the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism. She is also a certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication. Her new book, When the Whole World Tips: Parenting through Crisis with Mindfulness and Balance (Parallax Press, Nov. 21, 2023), describes finding balance while navigating seemingly impossible parenting situations. Learn more at celialandman.com. Check out my website: www.FoojanZeine.com, www.AwarenessIntegration.com, www.Foojan.com

We are lighted beings. We can learn to recognize and build our radiance using the breath and the frequency of Peace. We begin by breathing into our physical lungs and heart, circulating the breath and prana. We extend that light to the entire body, which begins to sparkle with Light. Next we breathe light into our emotional body, circulating the light and cleaning anything that needs to be released. Next is the mental body, which becomes fluid and clear so we can lift into the higher mind and hear more clearly our guidance. Finally we find the brilliant shining etheric body, which unites all of our being. It too fills with more and more light as we breathe into it. We fill with the light of Peace, which folds all patterns into one harmonious energy. We begin to flow with the power and dynamic energy of peace. We begin to understand on every level how we can increase the peace of the world by being peace in our own being. Here's a lovely book on the practice of breath and peace: Peace is Every Breath by Thich Nhat Hahn https://www.amazon.com/Peace-Is-Every-Breath-audiobook/dp/B004NRGUVE/ref=sr_1_1?crid=XS9JECUGHAA1&keywords=peace+is+every+breath+thich+nhat+hanh&qid=1706734970&sprefix=peace+is+every+aps145&sr=8-1'Angels of Love' music by Sanaya Roman (orindaben.com)Podcast production by iRonick Media (ironickmedia.com)Disclaimer:Breath exercises are not intended to diagnose or treat illness. Anyone undertaking to practice breath awareness and exercises should be mindful of their health and consult their health care practitioner if they have any questions about their fitness for this practice. 

We remember Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hahn, a best-selling author, Zen master and peacemaker, who taught part-time in the U.S. In this interview, he described lessons he learned about peacemaking that resulted from the Vietnam war. Hanh died in 2022 at age 95. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials […]

In this episode, we'll cover the benefits of connecting the mind and body through meditation. We'll cover the work of Thich Nhat Hahn, how to meditate, and why it is so essential to performance

We remember Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hahn, a best-selling author, Zen master and peacemaker, who taught part-time in the U.S. In this interview, he described lessons he learned about peacemaking that resulted from the Vietnam war. Hanh died in 2022 at age 95. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials […]

Fueling Healthy Thoughts: Overcoming Darkness and Transformative Resilience In this episode I have some raw and vulnerable moments about this year and reflect on what I believe I need to work on with my own stinkin' thinkin'. Being more intentional with what we feed our minds is essential in turning things around, creating hope in our lives, and being a light in the darkness.  It was recorded on MLK Day and I was inspired by his memory and his ability to be the man outside the box pushing through oppressive norms and spurring on all people of color to dare to dream bigger, and believe that more is possible. Here's a run down of this episode Reflecting on the challenges of the past year and the struggle to maintain balance in life. Drawing inspiration from Martin Luther King Jr. and the power of intention. Connecting with the Audience: Acknowledging the shared difficulties many face, emphasizing the feeling of being overwhelmed. Encouraging listeners not to feel alone in their struggles. The Four Nutriments: Exploring Thich Nhat Hanh's concept of the four nutrients (Edible food, Sense impressions, Volition, and Consciousness). Emphasizing the importance of identifying sources of suffering and finding peace and joy. Navigating Personal Struggles: Sharing personal struggles with podcasting, career decisions, and the challenges of parenting. Expressing empathy for those facing overwhelming situations and the difficulty of finding options. MLK Day Reflection: Reflecting on personal connection to Martin Luther King Jr. and the power of intention in creating positive change. Mentioning the influence of spoken words, particularly MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech. Coping Strategies and Tools: Introducing coping strategies, including mindful eating and being aware of sense impressions. Discussing the impact of volition on happiness and the importance of cultivating healthy desires. Addressing the role of consciousness in transforming painful events and finding enlightenment. Focusing on Healing and Positivity: Highlighting the challenge of podcasting about abuse without inadvertently perpetuating negativity. Exploring the power of focus and intention in creating positive change. Expressing a desire to shift the podcast's focus towards healing, love, peace, and thriving. Inviting Positive Stories: Sharing the intention to invite guests who have overcome darkness and transformed their lives. Expressing the need for positive role models and stories of turning life around. Acknowledging personal challenges and the importance of collective healing. Closing Thoughts: Offering tools for managing anxiety and promoting well-being, including heart math techniques and grounding practices. Sending love, hope, and thoughts for a brighter future to the listeners. Encouraging subscriptions, reviews, and engagement to build a community focused on healing. Mentioned in this episode: Thich Nhat Hahn's "How to Focus" beautiful book. Inner Balance Heart Math App for heart brain coherence and learning to ground and become less anxious. And help the collective energy of your family, home, town, the World. Earthing, grounding mat for grounding while indoors. Just plug it into a grounded outlet. I use mine near my desk for my feet while working and under my sheets so I can ground while sleeping. Amazing!! DISCLAIMER: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase through a link here. I would never recommend a product I don't use or love myself!     Thanks for tuning in! Sending lots of Love and wishes for a healthy 2024!  

NEW WELLNESS RULES of 2024  Quiet Individuals are Well: There's no need to brag, boast or wealth flaunt in wellness Wellness is Confidence: Wellness is about being a professional and having self -respect for your beautiful body: Save the constant need to show your boobs and butt to everyone to confidential texts or snapchat! Trust me, you'll thank me later  Wellness is a Personal Journey & It will only Happen When you go Inward: Wellness is not flaunting, showing off or purchasing products  Wellness is FREE & Available to everyone at anytime Read books like: "Being Peace" by Thich Nhat Hahn or Dr Wayne Dyer's Anyone Asking you for Money is not wellness. Anyone asking you to buy their mastermind or courses is not wellness True Wellness is Humility Wellness is not showing people you live in a Mansion & have W Wellness is about Grace When the doors close; how loving, how kind and how graceful are you FR?  Wellness is Cooking at Home  Wellness is being Peace Wellness is not quantitative Wellness is Meditating at Home for Free, whenever you would like; its available for you at anytime   Wellness is Experience: Learn from those with decades of personal experience; tik tok is garbage.  Wellness is being a GREAT GATEKEEPER Don't be fooled by marketing, ads, influencers on social media Social media has proven to make us sick, ill, mentally ill, depressed, anxious and far worse ...Be a great gatekeeper this year - only follow FR FR people that are tried and true.  Wellness is Being Kind to others Be kind.  Wellness is Sharing Real images, and pics//videos periodically Wellness is not editing, face tune, photoshop, distorting your images and videos, so you come off as someone you are not IRL. Don't over expose your life. Be private and be a good gatekeeper of your own life.  Wellness is Being off Your Devices It's who you are in real life, who you are as a person for real, not a persona, and certainly not numbers Wellness is Being Free Doing you, and not giving af about what everyone else is doing  True Wellness is Patience: It is in letting go of expectations as hard as this one is - its very important to practice - let go  bc attachment is what leads to suffering Passion Will Find You when you are Ready, Well and Confident  you don't need anyone's validation or approval to make you whole. You are whole on your own. 

Whoa dudes. Just had an amazing moment yesterday while shoveling snow drifts in the cold winter wind. Listened to amazing Greatest Showman song, thought about what I learned from Thich Nhat Hahn about the practice of happiness, and became inspired do jumping jacks to this song. Listen, be inspired, do jumping jacks. So much gratitude to our brother MLK, Jr. for making the ultimate sacrifice to liberate all of us.

Today on Sense of Soul podcast I have one of my soul sisters with me, joining me from the other side of the world in Norway, Kamilla Visnes. Kamilla connected me about two years ago, she was a listener of Sense of Soul. She was awakening to find her light within, she was in Thailand when she first contacted me,  she had just met her soulmate. But Kamilla was experiencing pain and illness and was struggling to stay healthy, she had a strong desire to heal and grow and over the time I've known her she has done just this. Kamilla took my GROW program and since has become a dear friend for life, my soul sister! Dedicated to her journey, Kamilla turned her pain into purpose and with a deep love of Mother Earth and caring empathic soul she set on the path, listening to her inner compass and leaning into to her strong intuition and compassion late nature to help raise the consciousness of humanity and make the world a better place. Kamilla is in the process of creating her own podcast to inspire woman to like Thich Nhat Hahn would say, “come home to yourself.” Follow Kamilla's journey on Instagram @kamillahv and if you'd like to reach out to her, email her kamillahvisnes@gmail.com.

Therese Fitzgerald came to the SF Zen Center in 1976, was ordained as a priest by Richard Baker in 1986, with her husband Arnold Kotler founded the Community of Mindful Living applying the teachings of Thich Nhat Hahn who ordained her as a dharmacharya in 1994. She worked with Maxine Hong Kingston's Veterans Writing Group. Now Therese is a hospice chaplain in Maui where she and Arnie moved to long ago. There's more to her story you can hear about in this podcast and last weeks' part one.  To read the piece her hubby Arnie Kotler wrote for Inquiring Mind on his relationship with his father, Richard Baker and Thich Nhat Hanh, go to cuke.com, write his name in the site search box, and look for Letting go of My Father.

Good News: A data scientist offers hope with cold, hard numbers! Link HERE. The Good Word: A powerful quote about peace from Thich Nhat Hahn. Good To Know: A fun bit of U.S. trivia… Good News: The largest dam removal project in history is underway, in California! Link HERE. Wonderful World: Explore the history and […]

Today we are happy to have Cristina Chua, MSW on The Essential Oil Revolution. Cristina is an expert in helping people reclaim their life from OCD and anxiety. Her technique is grounded in trauma and neuroscience informed care, emotional regulation and mindful self compassion. She loves incorporating aromatherapy into her personal practice and work with her patients. What You Will Learn: What inspired Cristina to start working as a therapist and coach for people with OCD?  The problems with “gold standard” treatments, especially when they don't work. What is OCD and how does it manifest?  The different types of OCD and what various themes of them are. What goes on in the brain of someone with OCD and how the amygdala hijacks one's executive functioning.  What are the Havening Techniques and how Cristina uses them in her work with OCD.  How Cristina incorporates aromatherapy into her work with OCD clients. The difference between training the brain to tolerate uncertainty and using coping strategies to live life with less fear. How Cristina's approach is different from the “gold standard” treatment for OCD, ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) and how her approach with this new emerging tool is viewed by conventional psychiatry. The importance of the emerging science on the Havening Technique and essential oils. Closing questions: What Cristina does for daily self-care and what she feels we should ditch and replace with instead to have a more nourishing or healthier life. Essential Oil Hacks: How Cristina incorporates essential oils in her personal life and for everyday use. Cristina Chua, MSW Bio:In addition to being a coach, Cristina is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who earned her MSW from Silberman School of Social Work and a BA in International Relations from Brown University. She has worked in family counseling, as a trauma therapist, as a social worker in a youth empowerment program for immigrant youth, and as a trainer. Cristina brings her knowledge of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) into her coaching work. She is also a Certified Havening Techniques® Practitioner. This is a gentle, neuroscience-based approach that helps people heal from trauma, anxiety, and stressful life circumstances. Furthermore, Cristina is a mindfulness and yin yoga practitioner who has been inspired by the teachings of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Thich Nhat Hahn, and Jon Kabit-Zinn (the founder of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction-MBSR). As a dancer, Cristina has continued to be interested in how the creative process can be used for transformation and healing. She studied voice, breathing and the Alexander Technique with the wonderful Jean McClelland. She enjoys combining her knowledge of mindfulness techniques and the creative process to support her clients in getting unblocked and into the flow of their lives. Where to Find Cristina and Learn More About Her Work: Cristina's Website Listen to Cristina Explain “What is a Compulsion?"  More Information and the Science of the Havening Technique My Post on the Science of the Havening Technique An Introduction to the Havening Technique  Havening website CPR for the Amygdala Handout Healing in Your Hands Book  Videos on the Havening Technique Intro to the Havening Touch  Intro to CPR for the Amygdala  How the Amygdala Designs our Days Daily Resilient Brain Care Program Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we are happy to have Cristina Chua, MSW on The Essential Oil Revolution. Cristina is an expert in helping people reclaim their life from OCD and anxiety. Her technique is grounded in trauma and neuroscience informed care, emotional regulation and mindful self compassion. She loves incorporating aromatherapy into her personal practice and work with her patients. What You Will Learn: What inspired Cristina to start working as a therapist and coach for people with OCD?  The problems with “gold standard” treatments, especially when they don't work. What is OCD and how does it manifest?  The different types of OCD and what various themes of them are. What goes on in the brain of someone with OCD and how the amygdala hijacks one's executive functioning.  What are the Havening Techniques and how Cristina uses them in her work with OCD.  How Cristina incorporates aromatherapy into her work with OCD clients. The difference between training the brain to tolerate uncertainty and using coping strategies to live life with less fear. How Cristina's approach is different from the “gold standard” treatment for OCD, ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) and how her approach with this new emerging tool is viewed by conventional psychiatry. The importance of the emerging science on the Havening Technique and essential oils. Closing questions: What Cristina does for daily self-care and what she feels we should ditch and replace with instead to have a more nourishing or healthier life. Essential Oil Hacks: How Cristina incorporates essential oils in her personal life and for everyday use. Cristina Chua, MSW Bio: In addition to being a coach, Cristina is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who earned her MSW from Silberman School of Social Work and a BA in International Relations from Brown University. She has worked in family counseling, as a trauma therapist, as a social worker in a youth empowerment program for immigrant youth, and as a trainer.  Cristina brings her knowledge of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) into her coaching work. She is also a Certified Havening Techniques® Practitioner. This is a gentle, neuroscience-based approach that helps people heal from trauma, anxiety, and stressful life circumstances. Furthermore, Cristina is a mindfulness and yin yoga practitioner who has been inspired by the teachings of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Thich Nhat Hahn, and Jon Kabit-Zinn (the founder of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction-MBSR).  As a dancer, Cristina has continued to be interested in how the creative process can be used for transformation and healing. She studied voice, breathing and the Alexander Technique with the wonderful Jean McClelland. She enjoys combining her knowledge of mindfulness techniques and the creative process to support her clients in getting unblocked and into the flow of their lives.  Where to Find Cristina and Learn More About Her Work: Cristina's Website Listen to Cristina Explain “What is a Compulsion?"   More Information and the Science of the Havening Technique My Post on the Science of the Havening Technique An Introduction to the Havening Technique  Havening website CPR for the Amygdala Handout Healing in Your Hands Book   Videos on the Havening Technique Intro to the Havening Touch  Intro to CPR for the Amygdala  How the Amygdala Designs our Days Daily Resilient Brain Care Program Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Therese Fitzgerald came to the SF Zen Center in 1976, was ordained as a priest by Richard Baker in 1986, with her husband Arnold Kotler founded the Community of Mindful Living applying the teachings of Thich Nhat Hahn who ordained her as a dharmacharya in 1994. She worked with Maxine Hong Kingston's Veterans Writing Group. Now Therese is a hospice chaplain in Maui where she and Arnie moved to long ago. There's more to her story you can hear about in this podcast and then next week's part two.

Sarah concludes Iteration 1 of Tarot for the End of Times with a conversation that unpacks the problems of "light hegemony", the virtues of Darkness, the necessity of shadow work, and the indispensable role of community throughout one's spiritual development. Find Sarah and continue the conversation on Instagram @snakeskin.tarot Want to submit a question for the Q+A Special? Comment on this episode OR send Sarah a message on Instagram! CLICK HERE FOR TRANSCRIPT CLICK HERE TO BOOK A READING ONE-TIME DONATION (Venmo) ONE-TIME DONATION (PayPal) FURTHER READING: “Opening to Darkness: Eight Gateways for Being with the Absence of Light in Unsettling Times" by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel "The Next Buddha May Be a Sangha" by Thich Nhat Hahn. "The Fertile Soil of Sangha"by Thich Nhat Hahn --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tarot-for-end-times/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tarot-for-end-times/support

Oooops!  I just realized this episode never went out on 8/12, so here it is now.... Have you ever found yourself lost in the hustle and bustle of daily life, forgetting to take a moment to just breathe? We've all been there, and it's in those moments that the power of mindfulness can truly transform your life. Join us on this heart-centered journey as we reveal how to harness the profound practice of mindfulness and bring it into the everyday. You'll discover how to tap into a state of peaceful, present being, employing tools such as the a 5-senses check-in. We also talk about how mindfulness can transcend the meditation mat and imbue every aspect of our lives, connecting us to our sense of connection to Divine in the present moment. Click here to learn more about Thich Nhat Hahn's incredible book, Peace Is Every Step. At the end of the episode, Ramtin leads you through a pranayam for cooling the mind and body, and we also share how you can work 1-1 with Ramtin. Click here to learn more about Spiritual Counseling with Ramtin. With Love, Jen & Ramtin  

— “If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see you parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive at this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people. “ ~ Thich Nhat Hahn. — “With conscious engagement of our ancestral roots we become more grounded and comfortable within ourselves as we feel the support of thousands of people who dreamed us into reality. Valeria interviews Jen Hudziec — She is the author of “Ancestral Healing: A Guided Journal for Observations, Reflections, and Connections With Your Ancestors.” Jen is a Certified Ancestral Lineage Repair Practitioner, Death Doula, Educator, Ritualist, and Fire Walk Instructor.  As an animist she has spent decades integrating Earth honoring practices with her former Catholic upbringing while reviving the traditions of her Slavic ancestors. She holds relationality at the heart of her practice and passionately supports others to reclaim their intuitive capacities, engage with their ancestors, find peace with mortality, and prepare for the threshold of death. Jen is a first generation American who knows the deep wound around lack of belonging and the struggle to maintain connection to her cultural roots. Her people are Slavic (Polish, Ukrainian, , Russian, Czech), Germanic, and Scandinavian. She tends traditional Abanaki land in NH and offers online private sessions, rituals, education, and group circles. To learn more about Jen Hudziec and her work, please visit: jenhudziec.com               — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well. 

A guided meditation with Tracy. To support her work, please consider donating.

A guided meditation with Tracy. To support her work, please consider donating.

I was overly giddy, strangely nervous, but above all grateful to be in conversation with James Finley about his breathtaking new book, The Healing Path: A Memoir and an Invitation. Each page is a thousand pages deep, that is how Jim walks about the world, drawing from the depths and teaching with winsome grace, poetics, and of course, wisdom. I have read The Healing Path twice now and I don't see an end to rereading it, it charts the unfolding of Jim's life; terrorizing trauma and abuse he endured as a child and at the monastery, graced invitations of transformative amidst the anguish, spiritual guidance from Thomas Merton, the richness of marriage to his beloved late wife, Maureen, and so much more. Learn more about this episode at contemplify.com.

What's got you worried today?Speak it into the Silence.That's how you surrender it. That's how you give it to God--you give it to the Silence. And then you just keep hearing the Silence,you keep listening to the Silence, the same way you were listening to the words of your worry,you listen to the Beauty of the Silence, you become the Beautiful Silence. And then, worry becomes Prayer, and the mountain moves. I Love you, Nik nikki@curlynikki.com  Please help me keep the show ad free + Get Merch!▶▶https://www.patreon.com/goodmornings________________________________Today's Quotes:"The basic condition for us to be able to hear the call of beauty and respond to it is silence."-Thich Nhat Hahn"The position that you're in should excite you.Think about it for a moment: the hardest parts are over. Why?Because you had to endure playing catch up. You had to negate what was holding you down and holding you back this entire time.What you're left with is nothing but space & opportunity with which to build up on this open canvas. The decision is yours, and quite frankly, you already decided. You didn't start on this path just to get this far.This is when the fun begins. This is when fulfillment consistently finds you. This is when those wings begin to expand."-@SourceMessages via IG "Wherever you are, love is your sole refuge. Fill your hearts with love, and let love be the guiding principle in all your activities when you return home. When you have love in your heart, you do not need to worry about anything. God will always be with you, in you, around you and will look after you in all respects."-Satya Sai Baba Divine Discourse - April 13, 2005"To seek is to abandon the here and now.To wake up is to abandon the search."-Alexander den Heijer @purposologist"God desires to give us everything, that is, the fullness of the Divine Life. We just have to be empty enough to receive it."-@isha_das_craig_bullock via IG "You're being guided, strengthed, and wisdomed from within."-Joel Goldsmith "Children, you should develop an attitude of bowing down to anything and everything. Keep the plate of food in front of you and bow down to the food before eating, and bow down to the plate after eating. An attitude to prostrate to anything at any time should come. In this way, an awareness, 'for what am I doing this?' will arise. Thus we should build up good character. Prostrate to the cloth you will wear. Bow down to the water with which you will take a shower. During these occasions of bowing down, you will have a pure resolve to see the same Consciousness in everything whether with form or without. While doing so, you are in fact remembering God."-Amma "Dead promises must resurrect. The dry bones must come to life. He's breathing over the dead area. One breath. One touch. One moment and it all changes. Through this might wind he is breathing life. New life. New season. New births. Hallelujah."-@Godlywaiting via IGSupport the show

A leading researcher on self-compassion, Kristin Neff's work is closely aligned with the work of the Hoffman Process. In this engaging, inspiring, and educational conversation, Kristin shares her research, deep knowledge, and life experience with us to illuminate why self-compassion is such a powerful practice for human beings. Drew and Kristin speak to the understanding that what happens to us when we are young isn't our fault, but our healing is our responsibility. As Kristin shares, "...there's no other body/mind and particular point in time and space that's in the right position to take responsibility other than you." This succinctly and clearly sums up the practical reason why it is up to each of us to take responsibility for our own lives. Going deeper into Self-Compassion: Listen in as Kristin shares a powerful story about her son who is autistic. He was in a very emotional state while on an overseas flight with her. Through this story, Kristin explains how the neuroscience of emotional regulation helped her to help him regulate his emotional state. Kristin shares that compassion has three components: kindness, mindfulness, and humanity. "Compassion is grounded in a sense of shared humanity." At its core, compassion is the understanding that we are doing the best we can, moment to moment. That we are human beings. We are part of a much larger whole. Moment by moment, we are doing the best we can, learning and trying with care and love. If we learn this, things become much easier to deal with. Drew and Kristin then move into a discussion of how self-compassion supports us in the areas of global challenges such as climate change and social justice work. This is where Kristin begins to speak about the two aspects of compassion - tender compassion and fierce compassion. Fierce compassion is needed in all of us to help create a world that is just, safe, and supportive for all. More about Kristin Neff: Kristin Neff is currently an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, conducting the first empirical studies on self-compassion nearly twenty years ago. Kristin has been recognized as one of the most influential researchers in psychology worldwide. She is the author of the bestselling book Self-Compassion.  Along with her colleague Chris Germer, she developed the empirically-supported Mindful Self-Compassion program and co-wrote The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook.  Her latest book is Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power, and Thrive. For more info go to www.self-compassion.org.  As mentioned in this episode: Thich Nhat Hahn: "Ordained as a monk aged 16 in Vietnam, Thich Nhat Hanh soon envisioned a kind of engaged Buddhism that could respond directly to the needs of society. He was a prominent teacher and social activist in his home country before finding himself exiled for calling for peace. In the West, he played a key role in introducing mindfulness and created mindful communities (sanghas) around the world. His teachings have impacted politicians, business leaders, activists, teachers, and countless others." read more...  Internal Family Systems: "Internal Family Systems is a powerfully transformative, evidence-based model of psychotherapy. We believe the mind is naturally multiple and that is a good thing.  Our inner parts contain valuable qualities and our core Self knows how to heal, allowing us to become integrated and whole. In IFS all parts are welcome." Continue reading... Kevin Eyres: Kevin Eyres is a Hoffman Process teacher and coach. Discover more about Kevin here and listen to his Hoffman Podcast episode with Drew, Beyond the Intellect. Chris Germer, Ph.D.: Chris, who will be on the podcast in a few weeks, is "a clinical psychologist and lecturer on psychiatry (part-time) at Harvard Medical School.

It's Here, even in the trembling,in the crying, in the storm, like a little pinpoint of light that catches your eye, that catches your attention long enough for you to catch your breath. You become conscious of your breath again. You're able to relax your shoulders down and back again. You may not be smiling, but your Soul is.  God Is. You're  Hearing... that tone, that Key. Remembering that Presence IS your prayer. Silence is your prayer. Love is my prayer, and Love takes care of Love. I Love you, Niknikki@curlynikki.com▶▶LOVE CHARGING STATION- Free Forum , Challenges, and Live Chat at 6:30am EThttps://forum.curlynikki.com/▶▶Join our new forum, GoOD Friends and enter the Mala Giveaway!Support the show:▶▶https://www.patreon.com/goodmornings__________________________________________Today's Quotes: "No prayer is complete without Presence "-Rumi"The basic condition for us to be able to hear the call of beauty and respond to it is silence."-Thich Nhat Hahn"It is in the dark that God is passing by. The bridge and our lives shake not because God has abandoned, but the exact opposite: God is passing by. God is in the tremors. Dark is the holiest ground, the glory passing by. In the blackest, God is closest, at work, forging His perfect and right will. Though it is black and we can't see and our world seems to be free-falling and we feel utterly alone, Christ is most present to us..."-Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are"The wise one does not try to control life and is not controlled by life.His heart is full and serene knowing that life takes care of life."-Mooji"Saints are the sinners who kept going."-Robert Louis Stevenson"Happiness does not enter making noiseit is there everyday amid the little joys.-look closely"-@cayswords_ I via IG"Whatever happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might seem, do not enter the neighborhood of despair. Even when all doors remain closed, God will open up a new path only for you. Be thankful! It is easy to be thankful when all is well. A Sufi is thankful not only for what he has been given but also for all that he has been denied."-Shams Tabrizi"I've watched you. I've watched everything you have been throughI've watched you fall i've watched you get hurtI've watched you fight and get back upI've watched you learnI've watched you growI also watched how hard you've been workingTo become the best version of yourselfi've seen your heart today and it's beautifulit's pure and it's ready to be loved the same way that I love youget ready because it's coming next week, everything you've been praying for."- @dailyuplifeingposts via IG   "It's desire which keeps you poor."-Sri Sri Ravi Shankar"Songs in the Key of Life" -Stevie WonderSong- We Fall Down by Donnie McClurkin -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b2z4lQwnNwSupport the show

It's that time of year when it gets dark, cold and lonely -- cuffing season, sure - but additionally a time when millions feel alone, and like they have no friends... here's an episode for all of you .. I'm here to help cure that cold, empty space of loneliness and no you are not alone. And if you are with friends and fam, we can help others with their loneliness, tech additions and isolation this season: here's how; 1- Seek out a community and volunteer - you will feel so full when you work in service 2- Look to nature for letting go and remember your anxiety and depression are normal and can be treated 3- Get yourself back out there and date - go out, even if its just a walk or a meal at a restaurant solo. 4- Take your single friends out, treat them to something special, listen to them, set them up, be an ear to lend 5- Go to the gym, learn to surf, cycle, join a running club etc- while you get fit- its a GREAT time to also connect with someone you love 6- Practice better self care and fall in love with yourself - you're the only one you've got - so you better like you 7- Knowing even those in relationships - they suffer too, and its work and its not perfect ! ppl are just lying. frontin' 8- Become self aware - take this time to study self awareness - a great book to start is "Being Peace" by Thich Nhat Hahn 9 - Listen to the words in this "Hard Candy Christmas" song by Dolly Parton ... this song is so sweet! 10- Become the person you want to be -- do it for yourself & know -- one day they will come - so enjoy this time of being single! its a really special time to learn about yourself - and if you are taken - be with your friends who are single and check in on them - take them out and check in on your friends in relationships too. Wabi Sabi all is perfectly imperfect. thank you for listening xx happy holidays. Be good to you!! Love yourself! You are beautiful! xx ck

Father Adam Bucko has been a committed voice in the movement for the renewal of Christian Contemplative Spirituality and the growing New Monastic movement. He has taught engaged contemplative spirituality in Europe and the United States and has authored Let Your Heartbreak be Your Guide: Lessons in Engaged Contemplation, and co-authored Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation (with Matthew Fox), and The New Monasticism: An Interspiritual Manifesto for Contemplative Living (with Rory McEntee). His work has been has been featured by ABC News, CBS, NBC, Harper's Magazine, New York Daily News, and Sojourner Magazine and he currently serves as a director of the Center for Spiritual Imagination and the Cathedral of the Incarnation serving Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island in New York. Follow Adam on social media: Twitter | Instagram Visit Contemplify.com

Join your hosts Genay Peavey and Susan Sanders as they talk about how getting sober, working a program, and becoming new versions of themselves changed their dynamics with other women. Want to SEE this podcast? Head here. Looking to save money on reiterative meat? Click here to get $15 off your first order of Force of Nature Meats! Join the book conversation! Sign up here to join the Conscious Contact Book Club. The inaugural selection was Anger by Thich Nhat Hahn, and the discussion was over Zoom on Oct 27th at 7:00 pm. You can purchase the book at this link. If you read the book in the coming weeks and ideas bubble up you want to share on social media, use the #ccpodcastbookclub so we can find you. Follow the hashtag yourself to not miss any of our commentary in real time as we read this book, and the ones to come. Both Genay and Susan track their reading through Goodreads. You can follow Genay here and Susan here. Get your library card! Then download the Libby app and borrow e-books, audiobooks through the app to supplement the physical books you borrow in person. If you like what you hear, you might like what you read. Sign up at this link for Susan's weekly essays to be delivered to your inbox. Find Susan on Instagram at this link or you can click here to message her directly. If you are craving more home building/home steading content, check out Genay's Instagram here and her partner Luke's YouTube channel Acme Acres here. Links to mentions in the episode: If you or someone you love is struggling with alcohol or drugs please consult the resources below: https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline 1-800-662-HELP (4357) https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/alcohol-drug-hotline 866-343-4521 AA.org 866-210-1303

Join your hosts Genay Peavey and Susan Sanders as they talk about quitting it all, their opposite responses to the need to quit, and what they are trying to move towards instead. Want to SEE this podcast? Head here. Join the book conversation! Sign up here to join the Conscious Contact Book Club. The inaugural selection was Anger by Thich Nhat Hahn, and the discussion was over Zoom on Oct 27th at 7:00 pm. You can purchase the book at this link. If you read the book in the coming weeks and ideas bubble up you want to share on social media, use the #ccpodcastbookclub so we can find you. Follow the hashtag yourself to not miss any of our commentary in real time as we read this book, and the ones to come. Both Genay and Susan track their reading through Goodreads. You can follow Genay here and Susan here. Get your library card! Then download the Libby app and borrow e-books, audiobooks through the app to supplement the physical books you borrow in person. If you like what you hear, you might like what you read. Sign up at this link for Susan's weekly essays to be delivered to your inbox. Find Susan on Instagram at this link or you can click here to message her directly. If you are craving more home building/home steading content, check out Genay's Instagram here and her partner Luke's YouTube channel Acme Acres here. Links to mentions in the episode:

Join your hosts Genay Peavey and Susan Sanders as they talk about false connections, how they try to make them genuine (at least for themselves), how gossip corrodes their mental health, and how they talk to themselves in a mentally well way. Join the book conversation! Sign up here to join the Conscious Contact Book Club. The inaugural selection was Anger by Thich Nhat Hahn, and the discussion was over Zoom on Oct 27th at 7:00 pm. You can purchase the book at this link or this link. If you read the book in the coming weeks and ideas bubble up you want to share on social media, use the #ccpodcastbookclub so we can find you. Follow the hashtag yourself to not miss any of our commentary in real time as we read this book, and the ones to come. Both Genay and Susan track their reading through Goodreads. You can follow Genay here and Susan here. Get your library card! Then download the Libby app and borrow e-books, audiobooks through the app to supplement the physical books you borrow in person. If you like what you hear, you might like what you read. Sign up at this link for Susan's weekly essays to be delivered to your inbox. Find Susan on Instagram at this link or you can click here to message her directly. If you are craving more home building/home steading content, check out Genay's Instagram here and her partner Luke's YouTube channel Acme Acres here. Links to mentions in the episode:

Join your hosts Genay Peavey and Susan Sanders as they talk about the differences between all these ideas, the shift they would like to see around them, and how they find their "motivation". Join the book conversation! Sign up here to join the Conscious Contact Book Club. The inaugural selection is Anger by Thich Nhat Hahn, and the discussion will be over Zoom on Oct 27th at 7:00 pm. You can purchase the book at this link or this link. As you read the book in the coming weeks if ideas bubble up you want to share on social media, use the #ccpodcastbookclub so we can find you. Follow the hashtag yourself to not miss any of our commentary in real time as we read the book. Both Genay and Susan track their reading through Goodreads. You can follow Genay here and Susan here. Get your library card! Then download the Libby app and borrow e-books, audiobooks through the app to supplement the physical books you borrow in person. If you like what you hear, you might like what you read. Sign up at this link for Susan's weekly essays to be delivered to your inbox. Find Susan on Instagram at this link or you can click here to message her directly. If you are craving more home building/home steading content, check out Genay's Instagram here and her partner Luke's YouTube channel Acme Acres here. Links to mentions in the episode: Link to Values Episode here.

Join your hosts Genay Peavey and Susan Sanders they talk about RAGE, anger, and how they have softened their edges. Join the book conversation! Sign up here to join the Conscious Contact Book Club. The inaugural selection is Anger by Thich Nhat Hahn, and the discussion will be over Zoom on Oct 27th at 7:00 pm. You can purchase the book at this link or this link. As you read the book in the coming weeks if ideas bubble up you want to share on social media, use the #ccpodcastbookclub so we can find you. Follow the hashtag yourself to not miss any of our commentary in real time as we read the book. Both Genay and Susan track their reading through Goodreads. You can follow Genay here and Susan here. Get your library card! Then download the Libby app and borrow e-books, audiobooks through the app to supplement the physical books you borrow in person. If you like what you hear, you might like what you read. Sign up at this link for Susan's weekly essays to be delivered to your inbox. Find Susan on Instagram at this link or you can click here to message her directly. If you are craving more home building/home steading content, check out Genay's Instagram here and her partner Luke's YouTube channel Acme Acres here. Links to mentions in the episode: Check out Genay's Screamo playlist here.

Join your hosts Genay Peavey and Susan Sanders they talk about the books they love (and hate), what the hell DNF is (not the same as DTF), and all their reading habits. Join the book conversation! Sign up here to join the Conscious Contact Book Club. The inaugural selection is Anger by Thich Nhat Hahn, and the discussion will be over Zoom on Oct 27th at 7:00 pm. You can purchase the book at this link or this link. As you read the book in the coming weeks if ideas bubble up you want to share on social media, use the #ccpodcastbookclub so we can find you. Follow the hashtag yourself to not miss any of our commentary in real time as we read the book. Both Genay and Susan track their reading through Goodreads. You can follow Genay here and Susan here. Get your library card! Then download the Libby app and borrow e-books, audiobooks through the app to supplement the physical books you borrow in person. If you like what you hear, you might like what you read. Sign up at this link for Susan's weekly essays to be delivered to your inbox. Find Susan on Instagram at this link or you can click here to message her directly. If you are craving more home building/home steading content, check out Genay's Instagram here and her partner Luke's YouTube channel Acme Acres here. Links to mentions in the episode: Anthony Bourdain first book, Bone in the Throat - purchase here or here Joshua Weissman: An Unapologetic Cookbook - purchase here or here Deep Run Roots by Vivian Howard - purchase here or here Gullah Geechee Home Cooking by Emily Meggett - purchase here or here Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - purchase here or here If you would like to get Susan's 5-star recommendations sent to you, sign up at this link.

There is a myth about scarcity. When we connect to each other the separation and supremacy that rely on the idea of scarcity fall away. Inspired by the rose of sharon, this week we talk abundance with poet, strategist, designer and philanthropic and capital advisor Taj James of Full Spectrum Labs. His father from Alabama and his mother with Scandinavian roots via the midwest, for Taj the spiritual and political were connected like the front and back of his hand. Since the age of six, he was focusing on fixing the world, in particular the idea that man is separate from nature. We are nature. Taj studied with Thich Nhat Hahn in Plum Village where he learned mindfulness leads to concentration and concentration leads to insight. Moreover, he was told by a monk that a river of love flowed through him night and day. He was loved. You belong here. With this insight, he felt the power of being kind, including to yourself, and the importance of paying attention. With inspiration from Howard Thurman, Taj reminds us: “Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”Follow Taj James on IG @tlrjames73We appreciate your support and help so we can bloom! Please take a moment to give us 5-stars and share a review.You can always email us at hello@gratitudeblooming.com. We want to hear from you!Check out the new Gratitude Blooming journaling notecards at www.gratitudeblooming.com.

Monique is a Happiness Strategist who teaches students and corporations around the world how to master their lives. She has spent the last 25 years studying the mind and its relationship to happiness and suffering.Over 70 universities and colleges use her program The 10 Minute Mind®. Her 8-week online course, The Happiness Baseline, has a 100% success rate in raising the mental wellness for every student who has completed it.Monique hosts the daily In Your Right Mind podcast, where she discusses how a series of small habits determine our well-being. In 2010 Monique received a nomination for the prestigious New Zealander of the Year Award.It's not often that you get to interview someone who has lived a life as fascinating as Monique has. At the age of 19 Monique ended up in a hospital, having tried to end her own life. She then went on a journey that took her all over the world to discover why some people suffer as she did and why some people are happy. Monique wanted to know if it was possible to run her life around. Not only did Monique achieve this goal, but she also lived an extraordinary life along the way. Now Monique teaches everything she learned and is one of the foremost teachers of Happiness Strategy. The Highlights Reel· Travelling the world as a professional musician playing for crowds of up to 10,000 people a night· Opening two European tours for Chuck Berry· Being one of only a few westerners ever to be asked to perform in the tiny Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan (Mick Jagger also performed there) performing for the Dalai Lama· Being one of only a few westerners ever to be asked to perform in the tiny Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan (Mick Jagger also performed there) performing for the Dalai Lama· Collaborating with prominent spiritual teachers, including Thich Nhat Hahn, Ekhart Tolle, and Pema Chödrön on the Heartbeats album, which she also produced in partnership with Sounds True.· Producing a platinum-selling charity album in New Zealand in association with Sony Records· Being nominated for New Zealander of the Year in 2010 for her charity work starting and running her own successful business· Riding a motorcycle through India for 4 years alone · Two solo retreats in the Himalayas where she spent 2 weeks at a time alone in a room meditating with no distractions· Having her program The 10 Minute Mind in every public university and college in NYCwww.moniquerhodes.com

"Savor the Cookie" is one of Coach Becca's mantras to reconnect with the present moment to get more joy and purpose out of training.  Adapted from the book Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hahn.  Connect with Coach Becca: @rabbitfoodrunsConnect with Edge Athlete Lounge: https://edgeathletelounge.com/@edgeathleteloungeEmail us podcast@edgeathletelounge.comMusic by MENDLogo by @valeriegalerieAudio mixed and edited by FermataLab

Welcome to episode 32 of The Way Out Is In: The Zen Art of Living, a podcast series mirroring Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh's deep teachings of Buddhist philosophy: a simple yet profound methodology for dealing with our suffering, and for creating more happiness and joy in our lives. This bonus episode showcases an interview between Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and journalist Jo Confino from before Christmas 2011, during the winter retreat in Plum Village. It begins with a short introduction by Jo and Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu. This is a conversation about our relationship with Mother Earth, the need to move beyond the idea of ‘environment', and falling back in love with our life-giving planet. Thich Nhat Hanh talks about the ‘Buddha nature'; the Earth as a Bodhisattva; meditation as active awakening, and practical ways to bring about a collective awakening; the need for a cosmic religion not based on Dharma or belief; producing our own right view; dogmatism as a cause for separation and war; the most necessary teachings for our times; mindful and compassionate business; transforming suffering; collective awakening; and connecting to the Earth through mindfulness. Thay also further develops on his interest in science, and the benefits of a retreat for mindfulness practitioners and scientists. The interview also includes important advice to help activists maintain their motivation and peace amid chaos, and how to suffer less in order to help more. Co-produced by the Plum Village App:https://plumvillage.app/ And Global Optimism:https://globaloptimism.com/ With support from the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation:https://thichnhathanhfoundation.org/ List of resourcesLove Letter to the Earthhttps://www.parallax.org/product/love-letter-to-the-earth/ Antoine Lavoisierhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Lavoisier  Paul Tillichhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Tillich Bodhisattvahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva Shakyamuni Buddhahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha Journalist Jo Confino Interviews Thich Nhat Hanh: Falling Back in Love with Mother Earthhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-TZlJW2FEs ‘Beyond Environment: Falling Back in Love with Mother Earth'https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/zen-thich-naht-hanh-buddhidm-business-values Dharma Talks: ‘The Ground of Right View'https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/the-ground-of-right-view-2/ Quotes “If you look into the Milky Way, we see that there are millions of stars and each star can be a Buddha, like the sun above us is the real Buddha, a Buddha that can provide light and warmth, a Buddha that can offer life. So it is possible for us to conceive Buddha [as] not [being] in the form of a person.” “If you look around deeply, you realize that there isn’t anything as beautiful as our planet Earth. And that is why we should not try to abandon this beautiful planet, searching for something far away – whether that is called Pure Land, the Kingdom of God, or anything. And if we gain that insight, we see that the Earth is not only the environment; everything is us, and by taking care of the Earth we take care of ourselves.” “In Buddhism, we speak of meditation as an active awakening. To awake is to be awake to something. To be awake to the fact that the Earth is in danger and living species on Earth are also in danger. And that should be a collective awakening, in order to have enough strength for a change.” “Scientists are motivated by a desire to understand better, and Buddhist practitioners are also motivated by that kind of desire. But, in Buddhism, we keep in mind that understanding could help us suffer less. Any kind of understanding, true understanding, will help us suffer less. And the Buddhist tradition has elaborated ways of practicing in order to help people to suffer less. And in the process, they have found out many things about themselves and the world. They don’t use the scientific method, but they have a lot of insight and a lot of experiences. And I think they can share it with other people, including scientists.” “There are plenty of us who are activists, who are eager to do something. And we should go this way: we should begin with ourselves. We should begin with removing our wrong views, so that we can suffer less. And when we suffer less, we can be more helpful. We can help people to change.” “If you transcend the notion of birth and death, you are able to transcend the notion of being and non-being. And you know that to be or not to be, that’s no longer the question.” “When I drink tea, this is a wonderful moment. You do not need a lot of power or fame or money to be happy. Mindfulness can help you to be happy in the here and now; every moment can be a happy moment. Set an example and help people to do the same. Take a few minutes to experiment to see the truth.” “The Earth cannot be described either by the notion of matter or mind, which are just ideas, two faces of the same reality. That pine tree is not just matter, as it possesses a sense of knowing. A dust particle is not just matter since each of its atoms has intelligence and is a living reality.” “When we recognise the virtues, the talent, the beauty of Mother Earth, something is born in us; some kind of connection, of love is born. “We want to be connected. That is the meaning of love: to be at one. When you love someone, you want to say, ‘I need you, I take refuge in you.' You do anything for the benefit of the Earth and the Earth will do anything for your wellbeing.”

Welcome to episode 32 of The Way Out Is In: The Zen Art of Living, a podcast series mirroring Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh's deep teachings of Buddhist philosophy: a simple yet profound methodology for dealing with our suffering, and for creating more happiness and joy in our lives. This bonus episode showcases an interview between Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and journalist Jo Confino from before Christmas 2011, during the winter retreat in Plum Village. It begins with a short introduction by Jo and Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu. This is a conversation about our relationship with Mother Earth, the need to move beyond the idea of ‘environment', and falling back in love with our life-giving planet. Thich Nhat Hanh talks about the ‘Buddha nature'; the Earth as a Bodhisattva; meditation as active awakening, and practical ways to bring about a collective awakening; the need for a cosmic religion not based on Dharma or belief; producing our own right view; dogmatism as a cause for separation and war; the most necessary teachings for our times; mindful and compassionate business; transforming suffering; collective awakening; and connecting to the Earth through mindfulness. Thay also further develops on his interest in science, and the benefits of a retreat for mindfulness practitioners and scientists. The interview also includes important advice to help activists maintain their motivation and peace amid chaos, and how to suffer less in order to help more. Co-produced by the Plum Village App:https://plumvillage.app/ And Global Optimism:https://globaloptimism.com/ With support from the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation:https://thichnhathanhfoundation.org/ List of resourcesLove Letter to the Earthhttps://www.parallax.org/product/love-letter-to-the-earth/ Antoine Lavoisierhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Lavoisier  Paul Tillichhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Tillich Bodhisattvahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva Shakyamuni Buddhahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha Journalist Jo Confino Interviews Thich Nhat Hanh: Falling Back in Love with Mother Earthhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-TZlJW2FEs ‘Beyond Environment: Falling Back in Love with Mother Earth'https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/zen-thich-naht-hanh-buddhidm-business-values Dharma Talks: ‘The Ground of Right View'https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/the-ground-of-right-view-2/ Quotes “If you look into the Milky Way, we see that there are millions of stars and each star can be a Buddha, like the sun above us is the real Buddha, a Buddha that can provide light and warmth, a Buddha that can offer life. So it is possible for us to conceive Buddha [as] not [being] in the form of a person.” “If you look around deeply, you realize that there isn’t anything as beautiful as our planet Earth. And that is why we should not try to abandon this beautiful planet, searching for something far away – whether that is called Pure Land, the Kingdom of God, or anything. And if we gain that insight, we see that the Earth is not only the environment; everything is us, and by taking care of the Earth we take care of ourselves.” “In Buddhism, we speak of meditation as an active awakening. To awake is to be awake to something. To be awake to the fact that the Earth is in danger and living species on Earth are also in danger. And that should be a collective awakening, in order to have enough strength for a change.” “Scientists are motivated by a desire to understand better, and Buddhist practitioners are also motivated by that kind of desire. But, in Buddhism, we keep in mind that understanding could help us suffer less. Any kind of understanding, true understanding, will help us suffer less. And the Buddhist tradition has elaborated ways of practicing in order to help people to suffer less. And in the process, they have found out many things about themselves and the world. They don’t use the scientific method, but they have a lot of insight and a lot of experiences. And I think they can share it with other people, including scientists.” “There are plenty of us who are activists, who are eager to do something. And we should go this way: we should begin with ourselves. We should begin with removing our wrong views, so that we can suffer less. And when we suffer less, we can be more helpful. We can help people to change.” “If you transcend the notion of birth and death, you are able to transcend the notion of being and non-being. And you know that to be or not to be, that’s no longer the question.” “When I drink tea, this is a wonderful moment. You do not need a lot of power or fame or money to be happy. Mindfulness can help you to be happy in the here and now; every moment can be a happy moment. Set an example and help people to do the same. Take a few minutes to experiment to see the truth.” “The Earth cannot be described either by the notion of matter or mind, which are just ideas, two faces of the same reality. That pine tree is not just matter, as it possesses a sense of knowing. A dust particle is not just matter since each of its atoms has intelligence and is a living reality.” “When we recognise the virtues, the talent, the beauty of Mother Earth, something is born in us; some kind of connection, of love is born. “We want to be connected. That is the meaning of love: to be at one. When you love someone, you want to say, ‘I need you, I take refuge in you.' You do anything for the benefit of the Earth and the Earth will do anything for your wellbeing.”