Mindrolling – Raghu Markus – Ep. 388 – Intelligent Self Inquiry with Ralph De La Rosa

Ralph De La Rosa and Raghu discuss mantra and bhakti yoga as intelligent self inquiry, compassion as the root of anger, healing our loneliness, and how all paths lead to love.

Ralph De La Rosa, LCSW, is an author, psychotherapist, meditation teacher, Buddhist philosopher, and student of Amma. He leads healing retreats at Omega Institute, Spirit Rock, and Kripalu, and his work has been featured in the New York Post, CNN, GQ, SELF, Women’s Health, and many more. For information on Ralph’s ongoing work and his new book, Don’t Tell Me to Relax: Emotional Resilience in the Age of Rage, Feels, and Freak Outs, head over to ralphdelarosa.com

Dangerous Opportunity…To Awaken

In speaking to the difficulties we are facing with the pandemic, ongoing injustices and systemic oppression, Ralph and Raghu offer the hopeful view that despite the outward problems these calamities create, that the conditions are actually a prime opportunity to awaken and make spiritual progress into the compassionate heart.

“Despite the calamity and disaster, it’s possible to awaken in these conditions. It’s possible to utilize the difficulty, not try to escape it or go around it, but to actually go again deeper with it. If we can meet it in the right way, and apply ourselves in the right way, it becomes possible to turn this into an opportunity to wake up and to develop the heart of compassion.” – Ralph De La Rosa

Ralph De La Rosa & Raghu share about moving beyond the wounded narratives of our monkey mind with spiritual practice, on Ep. 275 of Mindrolling
Bhakti, Mantra, & Intelligent Self Inquiry (20:05)

Sharing about bhakti yoga, devotion, kirtan, and bhajan, Ralph explores mantra as a form of intelligent self inquiry when we relate to the vibration of the chant, allowing emotions, thoughts, habits, and sufferings to arise and pass. Despite this rich telling, Ralph explains how there are infinite paths to liberation, and they all have something in common: Love.

“It all comes down to compassion, it all comes down to love. There’s a million things that will work, there’s a million things that can liberate us. But they all have one thing in common, and that’s compassion, that’s love.” – Ralph De La Rosa

If you’re enjoying this episode, for more Raghu and Ralph on compassion and ‘Puting Practice Into Play,’ tune into Ep. 344 of Mindrolling
Anger, Compassion, & Loneliness (31:48)

In uncovering how the root of all of our emotions, including difficult ones like anger and rage, are actually compassion, Ralph shares the story of the fierce Divine Mother Kali Ma from the Hindu pantheon. From the perspective of working with anger internally, Raghu and Ralph describe the spacious power in the pause, before Ralph offers a potent methodology for healing the child within by unburdening itself of negative afflictions like loneliness.

“I’ve been able to say to those child parts of me, ‘I’ve got you now. Mom and Dad are gone. We’re grown now, and I’m gonna hold you, love you, and stay here with this loneliness you feel until it’s all gone, until every last drop of it is gone.’ And there’s this funny thing happens when you do that: If you stay long enough, the loneliness runs out. That part of you has a chance to unburden itself of whatever the affliction is.” – Ralph De La Rosa

Ralph De La Rosa talks psychology meets Buddha Nature, mindfulness as psychic survival, and normalizing dharmic rage, on Ep. 47 of The Road Home

     

Source images via Ralph De La Rosa & @ProximaCentauri1