Author, Barbara Bonner, visits the show to talk about inspiring generosity and courage within ourselves and in others.
Show Notes
Getting on the Path (Opening) – Barbara Bonner looks back at her early life and talks about finding her way onto the path of spiritual practice. She describes being pulled to India in 1970 and what her journey was like.
“I can’t say I was called to India or that I wanted to go study with someone. I just knew I needed to get there. So I went and we had a summer of absolutely no money and traveling all around in Monsoon season. It was as if I had gone to another planet. The doors swung wide, is really the only way I could describe it.” – Barbara Bonner
Inspiring Generosity (6:30) – In her books, “Inspiring Generosity” and “Inspiring Courage,” Barbara examines generosity and courage through a collection of stories, poems and quotes. She talks about looking at these qualities through the lens of compassion and heart-opening instead of the common materialistic approach.
“I was interested in both qualities of generosity and courage because I think our culture really has a misconception about them both. I wanted to talk about generosity, not as the giving and exchanging of material goods, but as a spiritual quality of heart opening and compassion. People stepping forward in moments to do something extraordinary for other people, that to me is what generosity is.” – Barbara Bonner
Stories of the Heart (13:15) – Barbara shares a few inspiring stories from her books of people that demonstrate radical acts of courage and generosity from a heart of compassion.
Our Interconnection (20:00) – Raghu and Barbara discuss the interconnectedness of all things. How small acts of generosity and courage can spread like wildfire.
Inspiring Courage (29:30) – The two talk about the importance of finding real courage within ourselves and inspiring it in others. They share stories of what real courage looks like and the importance of love in finding courage.
“Courage is a very big thing.” – Neem Karoli Baba
Finding Courage in Grief (39:10) – In the throes of grief, it can be difficult to find the courage to endure and move on. Barbara and Raghu talk about finding the courage to put one foot in front of the other and move forward.
To explore the grief caused by impermanence and the power of love discussed in this section visit: RamDass.org/poweroflove
“One of the misconceptions about courage is that it involves fearlessness. Anybody who is truly courageous is very intimate with fear and usually grief as well. Take it all on, the whole catastrophe.” – Barbara Bonner
Find Barbara Bonner online and on Facebook.
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