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Everyday Buddhism: Making Everyday Better

110 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 days ago - ★★★★ - 241 ratings

Wendy Shinyo Haylett, an author, Buddhist teacher, lay minister, behavioral and spiritual coach shares the "tips and tricks" found in Buddhist teachings to make your professional and personal life better ... everyday!

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Episodes

Everyday Buddhism 107 - Your Heart Was Made for This with Oren Jay Sofer

April 11, 2024 18:29 - 1 hour - 47.6 MB

In this episode I talk with Oren Jay Sofer about his new book, Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices for Meeting a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity & Love. Oren teaches meditation and communication internationally. He holds a degree in comparative religion from Columbia University and is a Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner for the healing of trauma. Oren has practiced meditation in the early Buddhist tradition sin...

Everyday Buddhism 106 - Appalachian Zen with Steve Kanji Ruhl

March 13, 2024 12:17 - 1 hour - 56.9 MB

Join me for a delightful conversation with Steve Kanji Ruhl about his book, Appalachian Zen: Journeys in Search of True Home, from the American Heartland to the Buddha Dharma, the 2023 Gold Prize winner for Memoir in the Nautilus Book Awards. Steve Kanji is a Zen Buddhist minister ordained in the Zen Peacemaker Order, now teaching independently and instructing Zen students through his Touch the Earth cyber-sangha. Reverend Kanji received his Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Universit...

Everyday Buddhism 105 - Illumination with Rebecca Li

February 14, 2024 15:20 - 1 hour - 61.3 MB

In this episode, I welcome back Rebecca Li to talk about her new book, Illumination: A Guide to the Buddhist Method of No Method. Rebecca and I had a conversation in May of 2021, about her previous book, Allow Joy into Our Hearts: Chan Practice in Uncertain Times. Rebecca is a meditation and Dharma teacher in the lineage of Chan Master Sheng Yen and founder and guiding teacher of Chan Dharma Community, a Chan Buddhist practice and study community made up of individuals committed to cultiva...

Everyday Buddhism 104 - BONUS - Purposeless Purpose

January 26, 2024 19:08 - 7 minutes - 6.38 MB

This week, over at my new premium Substack podcast, Words From My Teachers, I released Episode 6, continuing readings from the book, The Center Within by Rev. Gyomay Kubose. In the episode I read the following essays: Middle Way, Water, Purposeless Purpose, No Mind, and How the Buddha Taught. As a special bonus episode for the Everyday Buddhism podcast, I am sharing the reading of the essay Purposeless Purpose. It's a wonderful essay to reflect on, as they all are in The Center Within, but...

Everyday Buddhism 103 - Purposeless Purpose: Why Nonsense Makes the Most Sense Redux

January 26, 2024 19:07 - 32 minutes - 27.3 MB

As a special bonus episode for the Everyday Buddhism podcast, I am sharing the reading of the essay Purposeless Purpose. It's a wonderful essay to reflect on, as they all are in The Center Within, but I'm releasing it here on the Everyday Buddhism podcast as a companion piece, which you will find in the next episode, 104. But as a special introduction to the bonus episode, I am adding new content in this re-release of an episode I did in June of 2022, called Why Nonsense Makes the Most Sen...

Everyday Buddhism 102 - Encore of The Boundless Heart of Bodhicitta

December 23, 2023 16:18 - 39 minutes - 40.9 MB

In the spirit of the holiday season, I am re-releasing a popular episode from 2019: The Boundless Heart - Bodhicitta. It is my wish that we all try to practice being a Bodhisattva during this holiday season … Starting with me! ;) Stating the obvious, it's been a rough 7 years or so. Years marked by war, pandemic, social injustice, tribalism and, overall, something called "high conflict" made popular by Amanda Ripley's book of the same name, where conflict is the ruling energy and that lead...

Everyday Buddhism 101 - Words From My Teachers Episode 2

December 11, 2023 14:37 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MB

In this episode of Words From My Teachers, an Everyday Buddhism podcast, I am reading the first five chapters from The Center Within by Rev. Gyomay Kubose: Awareness A Shining Star Buddha Nature and Gassho Buddhism Is Everyday Life Empty-Handed I hope you enjoy these readings and I hope you will take my suggestion and cue to do some reflection at the end of each essay. As my teacher, Rev. Koyo Kubose taught, "Don't just read. Ask yourself how you can use what you heard? How can you a...

Everyday Buddhism 100 - Words From My Teachers Episode 1

December 08, 2023 14:11 - 25 minutes - 22.7 MB

Introducing Words From My Teachers, a premium, weekly Everyday Buddhism podcast. Words From My Teachers features readings from the books written by and about my teachers from the Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Buddhism and the Kubose Dharma Legacy … Rev. Gyomay Kubose, Rev. Koyo Kubose, and Haya Akegarasu.   This is the first of 2 episodes that will be offered as public podcast episodes … then make sure to sign up to receive them weekly through the Substack link.   In this first ...

Everyday Buddhism 99 - Introducing Words From My Teachers

December 05, 2023 17:31 - 3 minutes - 4.47 MB

Introducing Words From My Teachers, a premium, weekly Everyday Buddhism podcast. Words From My Teachers features readings from the books written by and about my teachers from the Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Buddhism and the Kubose Dharma Legacy … Rev. Gyomay Kubose, Rev. Koyo Kubose, and Haya Akegarasu. I started the Everyday Buddhism podcast in June of 2018 so that I could share the everyday approach to Buddhism that was instilled in me by my teacher Rev. Koyo Kubose and the Bright Da...

Everyday Buddhism 98 - The Wonder of Small Things with James Crews

November 21, 2023 18:07 - 1 hour - 55 MB

What a delight it is to have James Crews joining me for a conversation about the book, The Wonder of Small Things: Poems of Peace & Renewal, which he edited. James is the author of the essay collection, Kindness Will Save the World, and editor of several bestselling poetry anthologies, including The Wonder of Small Things, Healing the Divide, The Path to Kindness, and How to Love the World. He has been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, and in People Magazine, The Boston Globe, The New Y...

Everyday Buddhism 97 - War, Anger, and Propaganda with Gemma Naturkach

October 29, 2023 18:43 - 1 hour - 87.2 MB

I am very happy to share the wisdom of Gemma Naturkach, a member of our Everyday Buddhism Community and Sangha. I asked Gemma to join me for a conversation on the podcast, after listening to her share her reflections and insight about her experiences as a refugee from Ukraine. It really helps give us a bigger perspective—a perspective from the real-life experience of a woman trying to make sense of everything that happened to her and her family, who were driven from their home and country be...

Everyday Buddhism 96 - Householder Koans with Roshi Eve Myonen Marko

September 21, 2023 14:55 - 1 hour - 61.5 MB

I am delighted to share this conversation with Roshi Eve Myonen Marko about The Book of Householder Koans: Waking Up in the Land of Attachments, which she co-wrote with Roshi Wendy Egyoku Nakao. It was released in 2020 but I'm sure glad I finally found it! It's become one of my new favorite books and a real treasure as a practice tool. Roshi Eve Marko is a Founding Teacher of the Zen Peacemaker Order, with her late husband, the renowned Roshi Bernie Glassman. She is also the resident teach...

Everyday Buddhism 95 - Pure Land Sutra Study and Encore Episode with Bishop Marvin Harada

September 03, 2023 18:55 - 1 hour - 55.5 MB

This is a special encore episode with Rev. Marvin Harada, the Bishop of the Buddhist Churches of America. It also includes a new introduction highlighting the upcoming study of The Pure Land Sutras in our Everyday Sangha ... and why sutra study is so important in Buddhist practice. Come join us!   In the re-released episode with Rev. Harada, we discuss what makes Shin Buddhism a truly "everyday Buddhism", meditation, mindfulness, chanting, ritual, and about the teachers we have in common ...

Everyday Buddhism 94 - Soul Boom with Rainn Wilson

August 08, 2023 13:16 - 1 hour - 77.6 MB

I am thrilled to share this conversation with Rainn Wilson—Yes, that guy … the actor best known for his role as Dwight Schrute in The Office. In the conversation we talk about his recent book, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution. Rainn Wilson is a NY Times Bestselling author and three-time Emmy nominated actor best known for his role in NBC’s The Office. Besides his many other comedic and dramatic roles on stage and screen, he is the co-founder of the media company SoulPancake an...

Everyday Buddhism 93 - Waking the Buddha with Clark Strand

July 26, 2023 18:25 - 1 hour - 109 MB

You're in for a treat in this episode. At least it was a treat for me to have a conversation with Clark Strand. Clark is a former Zen monk, author, Haiku teacher, and communicator of all things spiritual and religious. He has studied and actually practiced within many, many spiritual and religious traditions so he speaks from actual experience. The focus of today's conversation is on his book, Waking the Buddha: How The Most Dynamic and Empowering Buddhist Movement in History is Changing O...

Everyday Buddhism 92 - Interdependence Day Mini Episode

July 04, 2023 13:55 - 9 minutes - 9.37 MB

A special mini episode, celebrating our interdependence. Listen as I share a reflection on what I call my "Buddhist-Born-Again moment." I finally learned what the Buddha taught. I finally saw that one of—if not THE most important foundations of Buddhist practice—is becoming aware of your inherent ignorance and the limitations of self. It is surprisingly freeing to realize that we are NOT really the masters of our destiny, because the choices we make about the thoughts we think and the ac...

Everyday Buddhism 91 - The Teaching of Conditioned Existence All Around Us

June 24, 2023 14:55 - 31 minutes - 27.8 MB

In this episode, I begin with a brief celebration of the 5th anniversary of this podcast and 1 million unique downloads, then move to a reflection on conditioned existence through the lens of climate change and the pandemic. The Buddha taught that we suffer because of change and conditioned existence. In other words, we suffer because we have a nature that is impermanent and and changeable, based on the conditions that affect us. Because of the truth of conditioned existence, there is noth...

Everyday Buddhism 90 - Radical Love with Satish Kumar

May 31, 2023 18:20 - 48 minutes - 44.9 MB

In this episode I am honored to talk with Satish Kumar, a peace-pilgrim, life-long activist, and former monk, who has been inspiring global change for more than 50 years. As a child, Satish renounced the world and became a wandering Jain monk. Then in his 20s, he undertook a pilgrimage for peace, walking for two years without money, from India to America, for the cause of nuclear disarmament. Now in his 80s, Satish has devoted his life to campaigning for ecological regeneration, social jus...

Everyday Buddhism 89 - Encore of Right Effort: Joyful Balance

May 01, 2023 12:56 - 1 hour - 70.1 MB

In this episode, I celebrate May Day with a re-release of Episode 13 of this podcast, Right Effort: Joyful Balance. I originally released the episode for Labor Day 2018. I thought back on it during the last couple of weeks as I struggled to be still and relax, while recovering from oral surgery during the first week of warm weather. I was restless because, despite the beautiful smells, sounds, and feelings of the NOW of spring around me, I wasn't really there. My attention was on another t...

Everyday Buddhism 88 - Finding Venerable Dhammananda Bhikkhuni with Cindy Rasicot

April 06, 2023 12:53 - 1 hour - 74.1 MB

Don't miss this fascinating episode where I talk with Cindy Rasicot, an award-winning author of Finding Venerable Mother: A Daughter's Spiritual Quest to Thailand and creator of Casual Buddhism, a weekly YouTube series that welcomes people from all walks of life to explore their spiritual practice in conversation with Venerable Dhammananda Bhikkhuni. The focus of the conversation is Cindy's spiritual life—especially her relationship with Venerable Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, the first woman to ...

Everyday Buddhism 87 - Untangled with Koshin Paley Ellison

March 08, 2023 16:19 - 54 minutes - 42.5 MB

In this episode I talk with Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison, an author, Zen teacher, and Jungian psychotherapist who has devoted his life to the study and application of psychotherapy and Buddhism.    In our conversation, we discuss Koshin's latest book, Untangled: Walking The Eightfold Path to Clarity, Courage, and Compassion.  Among many other things, we talk about: * The needy Cookie Monster in him, myself, and maybe many of you. * The power of perspective in helping you to ...

BONUS - Chat With Everyday Buddhism 1

February 25, 2023 20:32 - 1 hour - 60.4 MB

Welcome to a special BONUS podcast, introducing our first "Chat with Everyday Buddhism" YouTube videocast on our Everyday Buddhism YouTube channel and now as an audio version for the podcast.   It is our very first episode of "Chat with Everyday Buddhism" where we are planning a series of chats with our sangha leaders, our sangha members, and special guests. In the first chat, join a conversation with Wendy Shinyo Sensei, the host of the Everyday Buddhism podcast and leader of the Everyd...

Everyday Buddhism 85 - What Could Go Right with Emma Varvaloucas

February 14, 2023 19:52 - 1 hour - 72.6 MB

In this episode, I talk with Emma Varvaloucas, an editor and writer with a decade+ focusing on discovering and publicizing underreported good news in the nonprofit media space.   Emma is the executive director of The Progress Network, where she writes the popular What Could Go Right? weekly newsletter and is co-host of the What Could Go Right? podcast. She was formerly the executive editor of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, and the editor of two books from Wisdom Publications.   In a ...

BIRTHDAY BONUS PODCAST: Impermanence with Kaspa Thompson (Inspired by Shan Tao)

January 12, 2023 20:37 - 9 minutes - 12.1 MB

Enjoy a special release of a Members Only Feature: Bonus Contemplation Podcasts. These are short podcasts for you to use as subjects for contemplation or analytical meditation. I've released this contemplation, "Impermanence", as a birthday gift to my podcast audience, in celebration of my 70th birthday. It is by my friend and fellow Buddhist teacher, Kaspa Thompson. It purposely follows the episode, "Navigating Grief and Loss" by Kimberly Brown. Kaspa directs the Bright Earth with their...

BIRTHDAY BONUS PODCAST: The Five Remembrances with Bradley Jinaiyo Nussbaum

January 12, 2023 20:36 - 11 minutes - 14.4 MB

Enjoy a special release of a Members Only Feature: Bonus Contemplation Podcasts. These are short podcasts for you to use as subjects for contemplation or analytical meditation. I've released this contemplation, "The Five Remembrances", as a birthday gift to my podcast audience, in celebration of my 70th birthday. It is by my dear friend and Everyday Buddhism Sangha Leader, Bradley Jinaiyo Nussbaum. It purposely follows the episode, "Navigating Grief and Loss" by Kimberly Brown. I am publ...

Everyday Buddhism 82 - Birthday Bonus Intro: Impermanence

January 12, 2023 20:35 - 3 minutes - 3.99 MB

In this episode, I celebrate my 70th birthday, which was yesterday, with the release of 2 special bonus contemplations on impermanence. I saved a couple of Members-only bonus episodes for release following episode 81, "Navigating Grief and Loss" with Kimberly Brown. They are Impermanence with Kaspa Thompson (Inspired by Shan Tao) and "The Five Remembrances" with Bradley Jinaiyo Nussbaum. I know many of you have more of your life ahead of you rather than behind you, the truth is, we can nev...

Everyday Buddhism 81 - Navigating Grief and Loss with Kimberly Brown

December 28, 2022 19:32 - 1 hour - 64.5 MB

In this episode, I talk with Kimberly Brown about her new book, Navigating Grief and Loss:25 Buddhist Practices to Keep your Heart Open to Yourself and Others, where she shares an approachable pathway to personal and collective well-being through real-life, contemporary meditations based on traditional practices.   We talk about the power of love for reducing mental suffering … the illusion of control and remembering things are not all up to us … being present for and taking care of anger...

Everyday Buddhism 80 - Bodhi Day: Best of Everyday Buddhism Episodes

December 07, 2022 19:56 - 22 minutes - 23.3 MB

In this special "best of" episode, we celebrate Bodhi Day, the traditional celebration of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni's enlightenment. Yet, listen as we discover how it is a celebration of our enlightenment, too. The message of the December darkness is a messenger of our own enlightenment. Without darkness, we couldn't know light. Shakyamuni's enlightenment experience is ours. He proclaimed, "I and the great earth, and all beings are naturally and simultaneously awakened." We don't ...

Everyday Buddhism 79 - Luminous Darkness with Deborah Eden Tull

November 22, 2022 17:10 - 1 hour - 62.7 MB

In this episode, I get lost in a conversation with Deborah Eden Tull, who I wished I could have talked with for hours! Deborah Eden Tull is a Zen meditation and dharma teacher, author, public speaker, and sustainability educator.   In our conversation we discuss her latest book, Luminous Darkness: An Engaged Buddhist Approach to Embracing the Unknown, a deep book bridging the Dharma, personal awareness, and transformation—through the lens of darkness and all that word connotes, like unce...

Everyday Buddhism 78 - The Diamonds Within Us With Melissa Moore

October 28, 2022 14:59 - 1 hour - 68.9 MB

In this episode, I have a far-ranging and fascinating conversation with Melissa Moore, Ph.D., a teacher of Buddhism and Contemplative Psychology. In it we talk about her book, The Diamonds Within Us: Uncovering Brilliant Sanity Through Contemplative Psychology, a treasure of a book that weaves the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism with psychology, producing a guidebook of real-life practices to address our internal struggles and the reactions we have to the daunting times we live in.   I kno...

Everyday Buddhism 77 - Shin Buddhism with Rev. Marvin Harada

October 13, 2022 16:45 - 1 hour - 41.3 MB

I am honored to present this podcast episode with Rev. Marvin Harada, the Bishop of the Buddhist Churches of America. In it we discuss what makes Shin Buddhism a truly "everyday Buddhism", meditation, mindfulness, chanting, ritual, and about the teachers we have in common and what made them special.   I know you'll enjoy this talk with Rev. Harada as much as I did talking with him. He is down-to-earth and delightful, if you can't tell by his giggle! if you've never heard of Shin Buddhism...

BONUS PODCAST: Contemplation - Loved Just As I Am

September 22, 2022 15:13 - 9 minutes - 10.5 MB

Enjoy another special preview of a Members Only Feature: Bonus Contemplation Podcasts. These are short podcasts for you to use as subjects for contemplation or analytical meditation. This contemplation, "Loved Just As I Am", is by my dear friend, Satya Robyn, and purposely follows the episode where I share my journey into baldness due to Alopecia Areata. Satya directs the Bright Earth with her partner, Kaspa, and works as a psychotherapist and a writer. These bonus contemplation podcasts...

Everyday Buddhism 76 - Losing My Hair: Alopecia, An Uninvited Teacher

September 20, 2022 19:24 - 30 minutes - 26.9 MB

In this episode, I share my journey into baldness caused by Alopecia Areata. September is Alopecia Awareness month, so I'm happy to share this episode now. No matter what our hair looks like or changes to, we are never satisfied. Hair seems one of the most prominent marks of our self. We seem uniquely attached to our hair as self. My hair loss first started in mid-December 2021, then paused and seemed to start growing back, then in April it was on a steady downward trend. And by July, I...

Everyday Buddhism 75 - Beyond the Cushion with Jack Huynh

August 22, 2022 14:42 - 1 hour - 63.1 MB

Join me for a conversation with Jack Huynh, a long-time Buddhist practitioner and the founder of the https://beyondthecushion.com/ website. Jack is a first-generation immigrant to the U.S. from the Vietnam War and found his own path in the Dharma, different from his parents who are also Buddhist practitioners. Jack's website explores the diversity of Buddhist lay practice in a complex modern life. The idea for it was born from Jack's own curiosity and longing to ask lay practitioners about ...

Everyday Buddhism 74 - My Relationship With Troublesome Buddhas

July 20, 2022 15:35 - 39 minutes - 34.6 MB

Join me for a special summer mirror episode of the podcast, Zen At The Sharp End by Mark Westmoquette where I was invited to talk about my experience with "troublesome Buddhas." The Zen At The Sharp End podcast focuses on how to turn difficult people and relationships into your best teachers. In each episode, Mark and guests discuss how Buddhist and mindfulness practices can help us see our difficult people or situations as troublesome Buddhas, our greatest teachers. I am sharing this ep...

Everyday Buddhism 73 - Confined to Align with Ashley Lyn Olson

July 16, 2022 18:35 - 1 hour - 71.4 MB

Join me for a very special conversation with Ashley Lynn Olson, the author of the book, Confined to Align, and the author of a life that has consistently defied the odds. And that is, in no small part, due to her unbelievable spirit and ability to steer her thoughts, emotions, … and her life into the positive. As you will hear, Ashley has overcome obstacles in her life that would knock many of so far down we would have trouble ever looking up again, including a car accident that killed her...

Everyday Buddhism 72 - Walking on Pins and Needles with Arlene Faulk

June 16, 2022 18:50 - 1 hour - 65.5 MB

Join me for a conversation with Arlene Faulk, as we talk about the ups and downs of living with the symptoms, diagnosis, and eventual healing of Multiple Sclerosis. Arlene went from a career as business executive to a calling as a Tai Chi teacher.  ​Arlene captured her dramatic personal story in a memoir, Walking on Pins and Needles: A Memoir of Chronic Resilience in the Face of Multiple Sclerosis. Faulk recounts how she regained mobility, embraced the power of Tai Chi, and took back contr...

SPECIAL Intro to Ep.72 and 73 - Dynamic Acceptance of What Seems Impossible

June 16, 2022 17:39 - 3 minutes - 2.79 MB

In the next two episodes, Episode 72 and Episode 73, I am in conversation with two amazing women who demonstrate with their lives how we can actively accept what seems unacceptable. Although these episodes represent something out of the ordinary for this podcast, they illustrate, in sharp detail, how everything changes and things that we don't want to happen to us WILL happen to us. After these two episodes, look for another Bonus Contemplation on the Five Remembrances for members of the C...

BONUS PODCAST PREVIEW: Contemplation - Not Knowing

June 10, 2022 15:40 - 9 minutes - 11.7 MB

Enjoy a preview of a NEW Members Only Feature: Bonus Contemplation Podcasts. These are short podcasts for you to use as subjects for contemplation or analytical meditation. They will be released regularly and presented by myself or some of my Bright Dawn Lay Minister/lay ministry student friends and colleagues. To be sure you don't miss any of them, join the Everyday Buddhism Membership Community: Join the Membership Community or the Everyday Sangha: Join the Everyday Sangha

Everyday Buddhism 71 - Why Nonsense Makes the Most Sense

June 09, 2022 19:44 - 21 minutes - 19 MB

Rev. Gyomay Kubose, my teacher's father, wrote about "purposeless purpose." He said: "Too much intelligence or too much efficiency can create trouble. So, we must learn non-intelligence, which is super intelligence." Does that sound nonsensical? Our sangha is studying The Diamond Sutra now and it is filled with reasoning (or non reasoning?) like that. It is the the superpower of the Dharma because the wisdom it contains is transcendent. You can't "get there" from here, by what is normally ...

Everyday Buddhism 70 - Disappearing? Transcending?

April 30, 2022 14:41 - 24 minutes - 21.7 MB

In the past year I've noticed a feeling of "disappearing" in the world ... and to the world. A sense of my slipping relevance to the people and world around me. Yet, the good news about seeming to disappear is that it reveals the absolute truth of things as they are. Am I disappearing or am I transcending? It's a simple twist of the head. A change in perception. A change in awareness that I realize through an understanding of emptiness, Japanese psychology, and the experience of meditation...

Everyday Buddhism 69 - Thoughts on the Loss of My Teacher - Rev. Koyo Kubose

April 10, 2022 19:00 - 1 hour - 79.3 MB

My teacher, mentor, and friend, Rev. Sunnan Koyo Kubose passed away suddenly last month. In his honor, I'm replaying Episode 20, a special interview with him, as the first of a series of episodes dedicated to honoring my teachers. It is through Bright Dawn and my Sensei, I learned how to bring Buddhism into the everyday. Listen as we discuss what the Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Buddhism and its Lay Ministry program is all about, from Rev. Koyo's perspective ... its historical influences,...

Everyday Buddhism 68 - The Buddha's Wife: Yasodhara and the Buddha with Vanessa Sasson

March 09, 2022 14:50 - 1 hour - 78.9 MB

Join me for a delightful conversation with Vanessa Sasson who told the Buddha's story in a way you probably never heard it. She masterfully places you in the lives of Siddhartha and his wife, Yasodhara, as Siddhartha comes to grips with suffering for the first time. His obsession with ridding the world of the suffering that so many accept as part of life, is his calling. Sasson's calling was to write this story, based on her many years of study, as a Buddhist and religious scholar, but—mo...

Everyday Buddhism 67 - Love and the Strength of Our Humanness

February 19, 2022 19:51 - 1 hour - 58.4 MB

Join me for a fascinating conversation with Arthur Brooks, where we talk about two of his 12 books, Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America From the Culture of Contempt and From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life, his new book just released this week. Because we talk about both books, it is a wide-ranging conversation, but I think I can summarize it by using Arthur's words from this episode. He talks about how we see...

Everyday Buddhism 66 - Buddhist Spiritual Friendship as a UU Pastor with Pamela Patton

February 07, 2022 19:06 - 1 hour - 85.6 MB

In this podcast, I talk with Pamela Patton, Director of Pastoral Ministries for All Souls NYC. Pamela is a both a Unitarian Universalist and a Buddhist and she founded the Buddhism and Mindfulness program at the popular Unitarian Universalist church, All Souls, in Manhattan. In a wide-reaching conversation, we talked—among other things—about how important it is to keep your own practice strong if you want to help others. I think this is just as important for all of us to keep in mind, as ...

Everyday Buddhism 65 - Winter Solstice, Bodhi Day, and the Light of the Buddha's Promise

December 21, 2021 16:30 - 31 minutes - 27.1 MB

In this episode, we celebrate the Winter Solstice, Bodhi Day, and the light of the Buddha's Promise, meaning our enlightenment, too. The message of the December darkness is a messenger of our own enlightenment. As Bhikkhu Bodhi wrote, "having discovered for himself the perfect peace of liberation, he kindles for us the light of knowledge, which reveals both the truths that we must see for ourselves and the path of practice that culminates in this liberating vision." We don't chase the da...

Everyday Buddhism 64 - We Were Made For These Times With Kaira Jewel Lingo

November 05, 2021 14:35 - 1 hour - 61.3 MB

Join me for an absorbing and inspiring conversation with someone who I now consider a personal teacher: Kaira Jewel Lingo, the author of the just-released book, We Were Made for These Times: Ten Lessons on Moving Through Change, Loss, and Disruption. Kaira Jewel is a gentle voice that quietly shares the deepest wisdom in the simplest way. It is my favorite kind of teaching. It shifts and moves inside you until you say ah-ha! And all the while you don't feel taught. I've used her book and h...

Everyday Buddhism 63 - Halloween: What Scares You? What Masks Do You Wear?

October 30, 2021 17:41 - 28 minutes - 30.7 MB

In this special repeat episode, we'll look at the overlaps between the pagan origination, rituals, and concepts of Halloween and Tibetan Tantric or Vajrayana Buddhism ... and also examine it all from an Everyday Buddhism perspective. What scares you? What do you NOT want to look at? What masks do you wear? Do you show yourself as someone without a shadow or demon side? Is the so-called "spirituality" we want, we crave, and grasp onto something that is both grounded while reaching to the sk...

Everyday Buddhism 62 - The Magic Power of Equanimity

October 24, 2021 14:08 - 26 minutes - 30.2 MB

I can't stop talking about equanimity. So this episode is about the magic power of equanimity. What is it? Why is it important all the the time, but especially now? And how do we get it? As I've mentioned in previous episodes, I've been focusing my practice on developing equanimity and compassion. In this episode, I share some of the things that have been helping me find balance and a bit more spaciousness from the "crazy" during this time where I believe we all feel like our lives have be...

Everyday Buddhism 61 - A Skeptic's Path to Enlightenment with Scott Snibbe

September 23, 2021 16:40 - 1 hour - 80.5 MB

Join me for a conversation with Scott Snibbe, the host of the podcast, A Skeptic's Path to Enlightenment. Enjoy a free-flowing conversation between two long-time Buddhist practitioners and podcast hosts as we talk about the power of Buddhism and meditation to help enhance our good qualities, make us happier, and—ultimately—help make those around us happier. Enjoy Scott's easy and fun style of explaining Buddhism and meditation. It will make you a believer if you weren't already. Like the s...

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