For episode 230 of the Metta Hour, Sharon sits down with her longtime friend, teacher and author, Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D.
Roshi is a Buddhist teacher, the founder and head teacher of the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, NM, a social activist, author, and in her early years was an anthropologist. She is also a pioneer in the field of end-of-life care. Some of her books include: The Human Encounter with Death (with Stanislav Grof) and her most recent, Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet, and the 2023 card deck from Shambala Publications, In a Moment, In a Breath.
In this episode, Sharon and Roshi discuss:
- • The impetus for Roshi’s new card deck
- • How Roshi came to contemplative practice
- • The impact of COVID on inner life
- • Deconstructing being a beginner
- • How the elements correlate to Roshi’s card deck
- • Grounding into the body
- • The nuanced work of caregivers
- • The Brahma Viharas
- • Equanimity as a form of inclusiveness
- • Using ideology to avoid feeling
- • Strong back, soft front
- • Not cultivating a mind of poverty
- • Radical Inclusion
- • Watering the good seeds
- • Ram Dass in his last years
- • Space and wisdom
Roshi closes the conversation with a short guided meditation on Ocean Mind.