Living with a Courageous Heart in Times of Crisis: A Conversation with Tara Brach & Oren Jay Sofer

[@PeppermintPatties]

Tara, thank you for introducing me to Oren, and for mentioning the issues in Isra.el Pale.stine and historical world violent suffering. I feel the cognitive dissonance is deafening at present, and that there's a crisis of spirituality in the structures that hold society together, and the left-brained, patriarchal politics that leads it. It feels like more spiritual teachers should be speaking up, so thank you for being brave. Like you say, the fear and pain fractures us, when really we are one people on one world, leaving us feeling isolated, taking sides, and scared to speak up about the suffering of everyone, and the actions we can all take, however small. Like you also say, I too, find much comfort, joy and empowerment in community. When I connect with others and we we really listen to each other, real magic, and action, happens. May there be peace and an end to suffering for all of us, everywhere. 🙏❤️

[@karenslaughing]

Very well said ❤️ So grateful that some Buddhist teachers are speaking up with love and skill while naming the asymmetry (which I translate as horrific oppression of the Palestinians) the Palestinians are enduring. My heart totally breaks for all the people suffering and for the fact that the western countries keep supporting Israel to keep killing. At least the ICC is speaking up. It is hard for me to respect our current administration and yet I fear the next one will continue to give billions to support Israel in eradicating Palestine. 😢😢😢😢😢😢❤❤❤❤ May phenomenal diplomats and clear seeing governments support the cease fire and begin the healing.❤️ thank you Tara and Oren . And thank you Tara for talking about this with Gabor Mate too. I have work to do- I don’t blame the Israeli citizens and yet I am still working with myself to move from disgust and rage towards Netanyahu to compassion. It is so hard for me to see this kind of profound bullying. I know the abused become the abusers. Just hard to believe that Israel would do to Palestine what has been done to them in other times… 😢❤

[@beatrixvantil8623]

Thank you ❤❤ 🙏🙏 please take care

[@benfasching-gray3351]

Thank you for addressing the suffering of the Palestinians, to call to respond to what is needed, not demonizing, that learning works against dehumanizing. Gratitude!

[@dr.keshavamurthy2785]

Thank you Tara Brach madam for your valuable guidance. I love you. Gratitude ocean of love light peace joy oneness expandedness acceptance understanding and appreciation

[@fayward1877]

Amazing.. so rich.. so grateful, thank you.❤

[@karensprinkel]

So well spoken. Thank you Oren and Tara!

[@theinngu5560]

‘Connect with anything that nourishes us’ …22.00 beautiful. Thank you. 🙏🏼💙

[@woodspriteful]

Love this. As I've explored eastern concepts, such as around Advaita Vedanta, I understand their idea that activism doesn't have a place in the life of a spiritually evolved being, but based on my own experience, I can't rest there. Maybe I have been so deeply influenced by the Western world, where consciousness cannot be separated from activism, but it is also a personal impulse. (Note: just because the West is individualistic generally, we should acknowledge that we are highly activist, especially in communities of consciousness, religious or not). We can't end suffering, but if we can acknowledge our power as creators, we must not be so passive and try to jump in to fix our systems. Presently, I am focused on family court and the exploitation there with negative impacts on children, but the environment is a big one for me too. There are many voiceless. If you have skills and aren't using them to assist, then they are wasted. I don't mean to create guilt. It's just a fact. Apathy exists because you are either busy surviving or busy maintaining comfort. I don't ever want to be so comfortable that I waste my skills not taking action. We need balance between refuge and action. 100% refuge exists after death. We aren't embodied just to experience the bliss of afterlife.

[@theinngu5560]

We also need to find peace within ourselves before we can really effectively help others ..otherwise we are always colouring the help with our own defilements of greed, anger and delusion. It’s much easier to try and fix others than ourselves and as the Buddha said, the highest thing we can do is realise eternal peace within and then we really can help those who are open to it. 🙏🏼☺

[@Rain9Quinn]

The Mahayana tradition is based in compassion, in helping others & even foregoing enlightenment in order to continually be reborn to continue to help. Especially those in bad situations. While recognizing all people have the same potential of a Buddha nature, nonetheless we do not hide from taking action. Activism of course is part of that, just in a respectful, not anger-driven or self serving way. This is the big challenge. ❤😌

[@PrettyWhiteLady]

This gentleman had me at the moment where he was describing how his child makes friends with everything out of doors, the plants, the rocks, the animals, and how I can do that as well. I am coming from a family of trauma, I have almost no relationships with family at this time and very few friendships being a 53-year-old woman. But then suddenly in the middle of making that connection, he says, let's also have an awareness that it's all in decline and disappearing. How is that helpful? How is it helpful for me to be trying to connect with the outside world, making the connection that I am not a single person but a part of a bigger thing, but at the same time, dropping in the awareness that corporations are destroying our world and I am utterly powerless to do anything about it? I mean seriously! Save it. Enough with the guilt. I was in the middle of making a nice strong connection that I am part of a bigger thing, and suddenly you want me to have this awareness that the natural world is disappearing before our eyes. What exactly do you expect one little person out here to do about it? There is nothing I can do about it, so then why do you constantly steer me back to having a huge awareness about how horrible it is??? That awareness is pointless let me tell you. There is a time and a place for thinking about things like that, and when you steer somebody into an awareness that they are part of a bigger thing, not so alone, that moment is *not* the moment to tell them that the world is disappearing as we know it.

[@karenslaughing]

Took courage to write that- sending love and prayers to your heart as you heal with the trauma and titrate into greater awareness. Go gently my friend- best to focus on the compassion and the safety you can find. You don’t need to hold it all while you’re healing from deep trauma- a teacher told me that on my journey- I was so blown out from trauma and then feeling the suffering in the world that I basically wanted to die. They gently guided me to focus on joy and where there is warmth and connection- it’s been a multi year task. These days I do have some capacity to feel the greater suffering on this planet and I also stay within my limit- blessings to you❤❤❤

[@NishaStraightA]

I will be impressed when people look at the atrocities that occurred right here in America in plantation after plantation instead of jumping on a plane to take other people's measure.

[@ceebd8554]

"Forced work camps", The 1619 Project

[@robynkeen8279]

Namaste 🌿🕊

[@alexismcguiness4931]

So well said. ❤

[@rickharrienger7066]

It's 4:30 our only hope of combating evil, is to do more good

[@janm6574]

❤ People assume you can't be hopeful and heartbroken at the same time, and of course you can…Hope is not happiness or confidence or inner peace; it's a commitment to search for possibilities. ~Rebecca Solnit

[@Childlesscatlaby]

Who did he attribute the quote "once there's seeing, there must be doing." Love that!

[@belindahall788]

Thich Nhat Hanh

[@Childlesscatlaby]

@@belindahall788 🙏

[@kariarvisais8588]

❤ 🙏 🌎 🙏 ❤

[@jazmynearaya1497]

it’s shocking that an extensive conversation can be had about isreal and palestine with out the word genocide. this was a little tone deaf and edging on some toxic positivity that Tara is usually so good at acknowledging. Idk why this guy is getting a gold star for just admitting in a vague way that, as a jewish man, he feels bad for Palestinians. Over all an important conversation and i love Tara but this guy failed to address this particular crisis honestly and accurately, which is so so important right now. just name it as it is. it’s a genocide.