Ram Dass joins Roshi Joan Halifax for a conversation about rethinking our approach to social action and developing practices that allow us to approach conflict with love and equanimity.
Show Notes
Rethinking Social Action (Opening) – Can a serious social activist and a committed meditation practitioner be one in the same person? Ram Dass and Roshi Joan discuss the intersection of politics and mindfulness practice. They explore the state of equanimity from which a person can enter a realm of conflict without creating more conflict in the process.
“I think a lot of times people think it is kind of an either/or thing, but I see it from the point of view where the individual has cultivated love and tenderness towards the world and does not polarize. Where the mind and heart are trained and open. Where they can move into contexts of conflict and not create more conflict.” – Roshi Joan Halifax
Check out the documentary, “Beyond Right and Wrong: Stories of Justice and Forgiveness,” discussed in this segment over at LinkTV: Beyond Right and Wrong.
Seeing The Bigger Picture (3:20) – How does a personal practice benefit a person who is engaged in dealing with systemic violence or oppression? Using the stories of Hanuman’s devotion, Ram Dass shares how Karma Yoga, in particular, is useful in maintaining equanimity in the face of injustice by changing our perspective.
“You ask what God wants, what the whole consciousness wants. That is a way of spiritual practice, where you can get into God’s perspective.” – Ram Dass
Reconnecting (16:25) – Roshi Joan shares wisdom from her lineage of Buddhist practice that shows us how we can live a life of love and connection with other beings.
“What drove me into practice was suffering. What kept me in practice was not just my suffering, but the suffering of others.” – Roshi Joan Halifax
Abiding Ardently (26:15) – RD and Roshi Joan talk about the drive to do our sādhana and where it comes from.
Sharon Salsberg shares a candid conversation with author Robert Wright and Reverend angel Kyodo Williams about how we can harness meditative practice and the principles of Buddhism to more effectively engage in political arenas ranging from social justice to foreign policy on Ep. 66 of the Metta Hour Podcast.
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