[This episode originally aired on June 20, 2023] We are all familiar with meditation as a way to tame and quiet the mind • another important aspect of meditation is clear seeing, or insight: the power of meditation to reveal the intricacies of the workings of our minds • a traditional image for untamed mind is that of a pond stirred up by the wind • all the silt in the pond is mixed with the water, making it murky • as the wind dies down—when we sit still and practice mindfulness—the water begins to clarify, and we can see more layers of what’s really going on within us • some things are quite beautiful, yet other things are painful to look at • it’s important to realize this power of meditation, because there’s a reason that we hide certain parts of ourselves • it’s not that easy to come to terms with the different corners of our being • it’s so important to be gentle and steady, and not immediately try to overcome all our hesitations about our own experience • step-by-step, through the practice of meditation, we are exposing who we are to ourselves • by removing firewalls and moats and protective mechanisms that deplete our life force and our energy, we can relax our guard and live more wholesomely and more full-heartedly.

[This episode originally aired on June 13, 2023] The feeling of loneliness, which is familiar to many of us, can be a very vulnerable and slightly threatening feeling • Trungpa Rinpoche emphasized the value of relating to loneliness as well as the value of being in community • he said that without relating with your loneliness, you can’t really be in community in a way that’s healthy; it can just be people leaning on one another, and can therefore be knocked over very easily • but by developing a strong sense of oneself and accommodating fundamental loneliness, we can actually be in community in a much stronger and more loving way • there are certain things in this life we have to do all by ourselves • we are born alone, and we die alone • a deep-rooted loneliness comes baked into life itself • one way of accommodating the reality of loneliness is to take loneliness as an ongoing default position, rather than as a mistake or a failure; to view loneliness as a thread that runs through our life from the very beginning to the very end • but in order to accommodate the reality of loneliness, we have to actually get through the sometimes extreme pain of loneliness • showing up for our own loneliness can give us the courage we need to show up for others who are struggling with loneliness and abandonment.

[This episode originally aired on June 6, 2023] There are many ways to look at the connection between spirituality and our everyday lives • in the Buddhist tradition, the basic components are very simple and straightforward: they are wisdom, compassion, and effective action • an image that illustrates how theses three components work together is that of a wheel — a wheel with a hub, spokes, and a rim • the hub at the center connects the wheel to the energy source; it distributes that energy through the spokes to the rim • in terms of the Buddhist path, that hub involves working with the mind • the cultivation of mindfulness and awareness is central; everything that happens revolves around that central hub • the spokes of the wheel point to the skills and qualities we need in order to cultivate compassion action • the rim is the point of contact with the grittiness of the road • this wheel is not up in the sky somewhere; it is connected with the ground of ordinary living, with the challenges and struggles of everyday life.