For episode 298, Sharon sits down with first-time guest Ann Tashi Slater.
Ann Tashi Slater is the author of Traveling in Bardo: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World. She has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Paris Review, and Oprah Daily, among others, and is a contributing editor at Tricycle, where she hosts an interview series about bardo and the art of living.
In this conversation, Ann and Sharon speak about:
• Ann’s exploration of her Tibetan roots
• The liminal periods of our lives
• The definition of bardo
• How Ann discovered bardo teachings
• The Tibetan Book of the Dead
• The story of Ann’s great-grandfather
• Examples of everyday bardos
• Becoming more intimate with uncertainty
• Opening to being undefined in transitions
• Bardo leading to the experience of non-self
• How lovingkindness affects bardo periods
• What role grief plays in bardo
• The Buddhist story of Kisa Gotami
• Non-Attachment, Acceptance, Attention
• What Ann’s near-death experience taught her
• Accepting reality without giving up hope
• How do we live in a world where nothing lasts forever?
Additional Resources
The episode closes with Ann reading an excerpt from her book, Traveling in Bardo. You can learn more about Ann’s work right here.