Culture
Ep. 309 – Love Binds All Things: What We Can Do to Help the World with Prof. Rajiv S. Joshi
In Episode 309 of The HeartWisdom Podcast, Professor Rajiv S. Joshi discusses the transformative power of love and its role in addressing global challenges. This episode emphasizes the importance of f...
Ep. 309 – Love Binds All Things: What We Can Do to Help the World with Prof. Rajiv S. Joshi
Culture •
0:00 / 0:00
Interactive Transcript
spk_0
This show is brought to you by BetterHelp.
spk_0
Handwritten letters still carry magic.
spk_0
A few words on a page can remind someone they're seeing and love.
spk_0
Taking time to connect through a note or through therapy can ease the loneliness that often
spk_0
comes with shorter days.
spk_0
With BetterHelp Online Therapy, finding a therapist who fits is simple.
spk_0
This month, don't wait to reach out.
spk_0
Whether you're checking in on a friend or reaching out to a therapist yourself,
spk_0
BetterHelp makes it easier to take that first step.
spk_0
Our listeners get 10% off their first month at BetterHelp.com slash HeartWistom.
spk_0
That's better at gelp.com slash HeartWistom.
spk_0
The world is as it is.
spk_0
It has suffering and beauty in unbelievable measure.
spk_0
So the real question is how are you going to tend your heart?
spk_0
A powerful quote from Jack Cornfield.
spk_0
In this episode 309 of The HeartWistom Podcast, love binds all things.
spk_0
What we can do to help the world.
spk_0
This is the third and final part of Jack's talk with Professor Rajiv S. Joshi from the
spk_0
Spear Rock Meditation Center Climate Retreat.
spk_0
This is Ganesh honored as always to open the door to this wonderful episode of The Heart
spk_0
All About, have when we finally turn to face our suffering instead of running away from
spk_0
it.
spk_0
And we do so with loving awareness.
spk_0
We can cultivate the courage to truly change ourselves and this world.
spk_0
I would like to remind you that this is a video episode.
spk_0
So you can head to jackcornfield.com, be here now network.com, or YouTube to watch Jack
spk_0
and Rajiv interact on stage.
spk_0
Professor Joshi is the founder of bridging ventures and a former associate dean for climate
spk_0
action at Columbia University.
spk_0
He helped launch Columbia's climate school with President Barack Obama and has led groundbreaking
spk_0
work in global collaboration, climate technology, and regenerative entrepreneurship.
spk_0
Welcome to the podcast once again, Professor Joshi.
spk_0
And while this episode does stand alone by itself, if you haven't dipped into the first
spk_0
two parts of this series, I highly recommend checking those out.
spk_0
They're all about how tending our inner climate is the first true step to being able to
spk_0
help this outer climate of the world that we're in today.
spk_0
Love is this unbelievable inexplicable force says Rajiv.
spk_0
When there's love, it's almost that anything is possible.
spk_0
It's love that binds all things.
spk_0
For the housekeeping this week, some very exciting news.
spk_0
And just about a week's time on November 11th, Jack's new book, all in this together.
spk_0
Stories and teachings for loving each other and our world hits shelves.
spk_0
This is a collection of Jack's favorite stories,
spk_0
cradled in powerful and wise teachings.
spk_0
That is truly an antidote for what we have going on in this world, so stricken with separation.
spk_0
This cozy book here just in time for the Autumn and Winter months truly helps us remember
spk_0
that we are all in this together.
spk_0
You can find the link for this in the show notes as well as heading to Jackhornfield.com.
spk_0
Jack also has some in-person events coming up.
spk_0
On November 20th, he will be at Stanford University for a steady heart, Buddhist wisdom and practice
spk_0
for interesting times. On November 22nd, he will be at Spirit Rock teaching a day long
spk_0
on inner technology for outer technology.
spk_0
And then on November 24th, he will be on-landed Spirit Rock as well as online for a special Monday
spk_0
night Dharma talk and book launch. We hope to see you at these great events.
spk_0
And for now, let's get ready for episode 309 of the Heart Wisdom Podcast. Love binds all things.
spk_0
What we can do to help the world featuring Professor Rajiv S. Joshi.
spk_0
May you be happy and healthy. May you be safe and protected.
spk_0
May you turn to face your suffering with loving awareness.
spk_0
And may you remember that we are all in this together. Namaste.
spk_0
I wanted to ask you a question.
spk_0
Because Spirit Rock fascinated me when I graciously received this invitation.
spk_0
And again, it was kind of like when I was writing the decisive deck, it inquires like,
spk_0
why would you like me to come to Spirit Rock?
spk_0
And I wondered with all the wisdom that has been cultivated here
spk_0
through the teachings and the practices, all your wonderful writing and examination,
spk_0
what are some of the insights that you think would be most valuable for a community of climate
spk_0
leaders, activists and organizers and practitioners who in this precise moment are grappling with this
spk_0
question of what can we do?
spk_0
Small question.
spk_0
What the hell can we do?
spk_0
First, I just love your Dharma teachings of living in the present moment.
spk_0
Because it is the truth that's all we have is this moment.
spk_0
One of the things that's helpful is to not be afraid of suffering.
spk_0
You know, we're always looking at how do we make it all better or something like that.
spk_0
And I remember when I first arrived at my teacher, Ajahn Chow's Forest monastery,
spk_0
the province on the border of Cambodia, and Laos during the American part of the Vietnam war.
spk_0
And there were fighter jets and bombers going overhead.
spk_0
But it was a place of peace.
spk_0
He said, they fight, but we want to show people that there's a whole other way.
spk_0
Anyway, I came to the gate.
spk_0
I'd come as a layperson, but then I got my robes in the village temple where I had been living on
spk_0
the Peace Corps.
spk_0
And he said, you come, I nodded.
spk_0
And then he said, I hope you're not afraid to suffer.
spk_0
That's a funny greeting, you know?
spk_0
Like, what kind of greeting is that?
spk_0
And he smilingly said, there are two kinds of suffering.
spk_0
The kind that you run away from, and it follows you everywhere.
spk_0
And the kind that you're willing to turn and face and go through,
spk_0
and that becomes your gateway to liberation.
spk_0
So part of what meditation teaches us is to expand what the neuroscience is called,
spk_0
to expand the window of tolerance.
spk_0
So we can actually be with our grief and our longing and our love and our tears
spk_0
and our hope and all of that and not be afraid of it.
spk_0
So Francis Lamb, who runs the MIT Media Lab,
spk_0
that does all kinds of creative things,
spk_0
including partly looking at the future of agriculture.
spk_0
Maybe you know this story, Rajiv.
spk_0
Anyway, one of his students came and said, since you're trying to make new seeds and species
spk_0
that will help us in the future and feed humanity,
spk_0
could we try playing music for the plants?
spk_0
And being a good scientist, he said, we can't just play music for them.
spk_0
We have to make an experiment.
spk_0
So they divide it.
spk_0
He said, divide your plants.
spk_0
One goes in the greenhouse, where it's silent.
spk_0
What kind of music do you want to play?
spk_0
Moats are.
spk_0
Okay, one of the plants gets Mozart.
spk_0
Third, greenhouse, two-pock.
spk_0
Okay.
spk_0
And then they plant the seeds and then let them grow.
spk_0
Do you know which plants grew the best?
spk_0
Two-pock.
spk_0
And the reason was because the beat and the energy of that pushed them around and they grew
spk_0
stronger roots.
spk_0
You treat people that you became the tree.
spk_0
This is part of what's contemplative practice.
spk_0
Yes, it does all of the sense of sephartness,
spk_0
but it also increases your capacity to be present for the unbearable beauty and ocean
spk_0
of tears that happen to be human experience.
spk_0
So that's the first thing.
spk_0
Is somehow not to be afraid of suffering.
spk_0
And then secondly, to realize it's not the end of this story.
spk_0
Because we can also get lost in the fear and the grief and all of those things which
spk_0
we'll work with.
spk_0
This is the instructions from the Buddha,
spk_0
where he says,
spk_0
live and joy in love, even among those who hate.
spk_0
Live and joy in health even among the afflicted.
spk_0
Live and joy in peace even among the troubles.
spk_0
No, look within.
spk_0
Be still.
spk_0
Free from fear and attachment.
spk_0
Know the sweet joy of living in the way, living in the Dharma.
spk_0
This is radical instruction to say to you,
spk_0
it's not just philosophy.
spk_0
The world is as it is.
spk_0
It's God suffering and beauty in unbelievable measure.
spk_0
And how are you going to tend your heart?
spk_0
If you go into a refugee camp to work
spk_0
when you're frightened and grieving and so forth,
spk_0
it doesn't help people very much.
spk_0
They'd actually rather have a more upbeat person come.
spk_0
They already have enough trouble.
spk_0
It's true.
spk_0
So here's one of my favorite poems from the great poet Jack Gilbert who died a few years ago,
spk_0
called A Brief for the Defense.
spk_0
And it's tough.
spk_0
Sorrow everywhere, slaughter everywhere.
spk_0
If babies are not starving someplace, they're starving somewhere else,
spk_0
with lies in their nostrils.
spk_0
But we enjoy our lives because that's also what the gods want.
spk_0
Otherwise, the mornings before lavender, summer dawn would not be made so fine.
spk_0
And the Bengal tiger would not be fashioned orange and black so miraculously well.
spk_0
The poor women at the fountain are laughing together between the suffering they've known
spk_0
and the awfulness in their village, laughing even as someone is sick nearby.
spk_0
If we deny our happiness, resist our satisfaction,
spk_0
we lessen the importance of their deprivation.
spk_0
We must risk, delight.
spk_0
We can do without pleasure seeking, but not delight, not enjoyment.
spk_0
We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.
spk_0
To make injustice the only measure of our attention is to praise the devil.
spk_0
If the locomotive of the Lord runs us down, we should give thanks that the end had magnitude.
spk_0
We must admit there will be music despite everything.
spk_0
If we make injustice the only measure of our attention, we praise the devil.
spk_0
And so this is a really powerful invitation to not overt your gaze.
spk_0
To actually be willing to see.
spk_0
And then in that to respond, because the heart wants to respond, if you're fearless enough to do that.
spk_0
So when Joanna Macy, who've been talking about a lot and love and she's kind of woven in the fabric of this
spk_0
gathering and to climate,
spk_0
but shortly after she died, I went over to sit with her body.
spk_0
And going to her house, the house was turned into a temple.
spk_0
Constancy would know. I'm sure you were there.
spk_0
Others and people were gathered and it was sort of a modest house in the flat part of Berkeley.
spk_0
And out on the sidewalk, people were greeting you with welcome and with prayers.
spk_0
And then you went up the steps to the porch, we'd had all these candles.
spk_0
It was really turned into a temple.
spk_0
And then on the porch, they smudged you and did more blessings to purify you.
spk_0
And then you went up the stairs inside, which had more candles.
spk_0
And at the top, there was someone who gave you another little prayer and a blessing.
spk_0
And then said, this is the room for meditation.
spk_0
And this is a room for telling stories about Joanna.
spk_0
And then when you're ready, you can go and sit with her body.
spk_0
So I did all of that.
spk_0
And I went and sat with her body.
spk_0
And there were a few people in the room there quietly.
spk_0
And she was laying there 96 years old, covered in flower petals,
spk_0
like being in varnassia or something, all these flower petals,
spk_0
and a basket of flower petals to add to it.
spk_0
And I chanted from the Tibetan book of the dead.
spk_0
Remember who you really are?
spk_0
Let go into the light, blah, blah, blah.
spk_0
You know that stuff, right?
spk_0
I did some other beautiful chants for
spk_0
and some kind of Buddhist teachings and instructions
spk_0
for making transition.
spk_0
And then I sat quietly and I listened.
spk_0
And after a little while, Joanna said, 80,
spk_0
you gotta keep going.
spk_0
That's nothing.
spk_0
Okay, okay, don't back off, keep going.
spk_0
So I got this transmission from Joanna.
spk_0
And I'm like, all right, you know, because there's this little turning 80,
spk_0
maybe I should relax, whatever.
spk_0
She didn't.
spk_0
She just kept doing it.
spk_0
And she said, yes, meditation.
spk_0
And yes, change the world, both, you know, that was her song,
spk_0
was like the two wings of the bird.
spk_0
So I went the back stairs down into the yard.
spk_0
And it was a good, proper funeral, if you will, celebration.
spk_0
There were cooking food and people were making music and telling stories and all those good things.
spk_0
And people were really close to her, a couple of friends
spk_0
said, you know, Joanna was just such a lover.
spk_0
She wrote a book, world is lover, world is self.
spk_0
She loved food.
spk_0
We would take her to all these restaurants and she loved cooking.
spk_0
She loved the outdoors.
spk_0
We'd go to all these amazing places and adventures and the outdoors.
spk_0
She loved music.
spk_0
She loved sex.
spk_0
Hey, she loved, um, she loved community.
spk_0
You know, she loved engaging with people.
spk_0
All these things I took it in.
spk_0
Next day, I went to Whole Foods and I was shopping.
spk_0
And there was a big chocolate thing that I love,
spk_0
but I thought for my diet, not a good idea.
spk_0
And then I heard Joanna say, go for it.
spk_0
You know, if you're going to do it, do it right.
spk_0
And I bought the chocolate thing, right?
spk_0
And then the day after that, should I go online and do these teachings and whatever?
spk_0
Or maybe I should kick Joanna said, you do it.
spk_0
Okay. So I agreed, you know, activism, I got to do that.
spk_0
And Joanna is now kind of here.
spk_0
Like them, like a muse.
spk_0
And the most beautiful thing, I mean, all those are beautiful gifts.
spk_0
But one of the most beautiful things that I get from her,
spk_0
is a sense of wonder, which is really in her DNA in who she was.
spk_0
The fact that buildings exist.
spk_0
I mean, I know all the people that the iron workers and the people that made this and everybody who
spk_0
have make it happen and the trees that were cut and build to make this ceiling.
spk_0
And the fact that this land has been here and sheltered the deer and the bear and all the things
spk_0
before this. And the fact that we're here at all is completely wild.
spk_0
It's such a mystery. And she's there just saying, don't take it for granted.
spk_0
Look and see, this is amazing that it exists and that you exist.
spk_0
And don't forget that wonder.
spk_0
And then look at how weird all these people are.
spk_0
They are. Me too, of course.
spk_0
That's because the cosmic creativity says, here, let's make some more creative things.
spk_0
See what this is like. And that sense of wonder of the world, even as I drive and go,
spk_0
wow, bridges, aren't they amazing? You know, they didn't exist for now. We have the Golden Gate Bridge
spk_0
Cool. You know, Joanna has gifted me not just her teachings. And I've been with many great
spk_0
teachers and she's certainly one of them. But with that spirit that has the joy in it that's not
spk_0
just, oh, we have to kind of make climate change a new grim duty, right? Forget that.
spk_0
Molly Iven's the wonderful activist and, you know, journalist and so forth in Texas when she
spk_0
died. She said, so keep fighting for freedom and justice, believe it. But don't forget to have fun
spk_0
doing it. Be outrageous, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom allows for us. And when you get
spk_0
through celebrating and collaborating, the sheer joy of that good fight to transform everything,
spk_0
be sure to tell those who came afterward how much fun you had. And that's Joanna's spirit.
spk_0
So those are a couple of messages not to be afraid to actually realize it's your birthright
spk_0
to open your heart to all of it because it's you to learn that.
spk_0
And to smile. I see it's funny because you know, Tick-Not-Hon has that whole thing you meditate and
spk_0
then you put a little half smile on your lips. And at first I was like, can I watch this? It's sort of
spk_0
like saccharine, you know, meditation you got to do. I always see, you know, I was a young man
spk_0
with ascetic monasteries or anything difficult to do around here. You know how young men are.
spk_0
They're kind of like, anyway, and he's smiling. So I was having lunch with him one day and I said,
spk_0
why do you teach smiling? I like it now by the way I recommend it. But I asked him, I said, why do you
spk_0
teach smiling? You know, and I could feel that he actually carried a lot of grief also quite
spk_0
honestly when you're with him that you could feel too. And he looked back and he said, I've seen so
spk_0
much suffering. He said, I have to teach something bigger than that. I have to do this is why I teach
spk_0
people this smile. And that smile when you meditate, you become the Buddha smiling under the
spk_0
Bodhi tree seeing the whole 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows and said, here I am, you know, with eyes open
spk_0
to see the mystery of things playing and resting in the great heart of compassion that holds it all.
spk_0
So there's a bit of an answer for your question. What do you have to add to it?
spk_0
Well, you know, there was a very famous Scottish economist who we might blame for some of what we see
spk_0
around us, but I don't believe it was his fault. I think we decided to pick and choose what he said
spk_0
and Adam Smith. He wrote a book called The Wealth of Nations, but before he wrote that, he wrote a book
spk_0
called The Theory of Moral Sentiments. And he wrote how selfish, so ever a man may be supposed,
spk_0
there are evidently some principles in his character that interest him in the fortunes of others.
spk_0
And render their happiness necessary to him, though he gave nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it.
spk_0
And I remember in all my studies in economics, that one paragraph for me was a greater synthesis of his
spk_0
thesis, because we can talk about invisible hands, we can talk about so many other concepts, but
spk_0
he was pointing at something, another force which motivates our behavior. And you know, Einstein says
spk_0
not everything that measures counts, not everything that counts can be measured. But he was, I think
spk_0
I think he was pointing to love. And when I first arrived at that meditation in Holy Hawk,
spk_0
hobbling using my tummy muscles to try and keep me up, I remember the, this concept of
spk_0
life. When brother spirit, I'd become part of this journey around regeneration, I'd
spk_0
had written alongside the decisive decade with Christiana, we crowdsourced this vision, which we
spk_0
were writing in the midst of the pandemic, and we called it a prelude to the great regeneration
spk_0
because we believed that the pandemic was a window, a portal to a new reality, and that
spk_0
it may not be defined as the pandemic or the depression, but that in years and eons gone by,
spk_0
we may look back at this era as a moment of great regeneration. And brother fabhu,
spk_0
who's the habit at Plum Village, and after ties passing has been stewarding the community,
spk_0
said Raj, I believe love is regeneration. And so we started a little circle and we were sharing.
spk_0
And it's true to me that all of the things that we were doing, and I was, you know,
spk_0
partly involved with the whole regeneration process in this beautiful, so like,
spk_0
library of solutions, but at the end of it all, love is this unbelievable, inexplicable force.
spk_0
And when there's love, it's almost like anything is possible.
spk_0
Just like I see my four-year-old boy and he's like the love in him.
spk_0
I would do anything for that four-year-old boy. And it's the love that binds all things.
spk_0
And taking that handle, so I think talks about this concept of paper and looking at the paper
spk_0
and seeing in the paper the rain and the trees and that even though you're looking at paper,
spk_0
you're looking at rain. And that everything that innately will be manifest is already there.
spk_0
And I think for me that was a very powerful insight because it means that
spk_0
perhaps, just perhaps, everything we need to manifest the future we want,
spk_0
the future we need as a species, all of that is already here if we look deeply enough.
spk_0
And out of scarcity, we're like, we need philanthropy or we need this, we need that, but
spk_0
if we look within and if we look at each other, perhaps we just start to find the elements
spk_0
that we need to assemble. And as we assemble, perhaps we might just find
spk_0
that there's a lot of power in this community. And perhaps that power could
spk_0
help the world shift in a totally different direction.
spk_0
So I'd like to invite us because you talk so much about the importance of also collective action
spk_0
and connection and community, I'd like to invite those of you in this room and those of you online
spk_0
to make little groups of three or four people and to take the next 15 minutes.
spk_0
That's probably good, it could be 12. Whoever is working the magic, magic for the online communities
spk_0
to help people divide into groups of three or four, with this prompt,
spk_0
what is uplifting and gives you hope?
spk_0
And what is your best intention at this time? What uplifts and gives you hope?
spk_0
And from this, what would be your best intention? There's something quite magic about expressing it.
spk_0
It's one thing to hold it in the heart, it's another to share it with one another.
spk_0
So if you would turn and make little groups here and if you're online and if we can do it,
spk_0
put folks into groups of three or four and you have 12 to 15 minutes, we'll see how it goes.
spk_0
Hey, Combrass, settle yourself back. Thank you, fellow travelers.
spk_0
You know, I can kind of feel the goodness in the room from that conversation. It has a certain
spk_0
delicious scent to it. So thank you for that. What I'd like us to do is a little bit of listening to you,
spk_0
both those in the room, but also some of you who are online and maybe we can kind of alternate.
spk_0
What did you hear in your group or what did you say or what touched you,
spk_0
raise your hand, first we'll start with someone in the room that will get someone online.
spk_0
How was that?
spk_0
Somebody put their thumbs up in the back, there's someone. Great.
spk_0
Thank you. Can you all hear me all right?
spk_0
Yeah, awesome. Yeah, that was really wonderful. It was just an absolute treat.
spk_0
We talked about it felt like a very wide array of things. Just being able to recognize,
spk_0
kind of enjoy an Amaci spirit, these heavy subjects, but with joy and smiling,
spk_0
I even realized I forgot to bring bubbles. I'm like, shoot, that would have been great to have this
spk_0
sweet peak. And yeah, and also this, I think we had a wide array of ranges and being able to
spk_0
appreciate the wisdom of elderhood and being able to share that with maybe some of the enthusiasm
spk_0
and the energy of youth. But that there was a really an exchange of both and being able to see
spk_0
people encourage to pursue things that are daunting. And yeah, just a very neat conversation.
spk_0
And a lot of gratitude, at least for my end, I hope. Thank you. Thank you all that across
spk_0
generational, especially. All right, let's see if someone online would like to speak. Can we do that?
spk_0
I don't know how this works, but...
spk_0
Alianna. Hello, Jack. Hi, Ernie. Yeah. I don't have much reaction. I have a question,
spk_0
which I would like to hear from the two of you. Some very practical ways, very concrete ways.
spk_0
We can deal with this onslaught of horror, I mean, from Washington.
spk_0
Things we can do, we can not do. It will really help me survive the next however long.
spk_0
You want a practical way to deal with the onslaught of the news.
spk_0
Turn off the damn news. I'm a serious leave, but let's see what Rajeev has to say.
spk_0
Sorry, I'll toss him the hot potato. Well, I think Jack actually answered the question in a short
spk_0
conversation we were having while you were talking. And I think we were reflecting on Rambas, in fact.
spk_0
And we talked about the importance of loving people and feeding them.
spk_0
And I just wonder if, like, in this moment, the quiet revolution is getting together in each
spk_0
other's homes. You know, the Scottish Enlightenment, which was this period of history where Scotland
spk_0
invented a crazy amount of things like the television, the telephone, penicillin, they say the
spk_0
declaration of our growth was the basis of a declaration of independence in terms of democracy.
spk_0
That's Scottish invented everything, right?
spk_0
And the Indian, of course, yeah, all made an excuse. But they say it was because of the whisky
spk_0
societies. And I'm not advocating that we all start drinking whisky.
spk_0
But there was a social technology of meeting together in safe space and bringing different
spk_0
perspectives together and sharing and creating space to imagine. And I don't know if I have the
spk_0
answer to what to do with Washington, but I just feel that we have to free ourselves to meet
spk_0
and load that to be a quiet act of resistance and to create this space to organize.
spk_0
And to free ourselves from the concept that doing so requires a significant amount of resources.
spk_0
Because by cooking for each other, bringing and sharing, however we do it, I actually think
spk_0
many of the patchwork solutions will emerge.
spk_0
Thank you. Thank you, Ernie. Thank you.
spk_0
Well, what you're saying is really something you said during your talk, which is do other
spk_0
of love not out of hate. Thank you. Thank you.
spk_0
So in the room, anyone else from your group, what you heard, what you said, share some hand over here.
spk_0
Great. Hi. We, first of all, I want to say I lived in Scotland.
spk_0
You've been closed here, ma'am. Sorry. I lived in Scotland at a similar time that you did,
spk_0
it sounds like Reggie and it was at a very amazing time for organizing on progressive issues.
spk_0
So thank you for the work that you did. Our group talked a little bit about solutions and how
spk_0
encouraging it is that actually for a long time, the story was we don't have the solutions.
spk_0
We don't have the answers to how to solve the climate crisis. And one of the things that we all
spk_0
spoke about is how actually now this feeling that we do have the answers both from some really
spk_0
incredible work that's been done in the last 20, 30 years and also through as we discussed today,
spk_0
looking back to other cultures, other communities that have always had solutions to these problems.
spk_0
And so it doesn't feel like we're dealing with this kind of black box question anymore.
spk_0
But I actually did also had a question which is sort of building off of that which is,
spk_0
you know, when I think about the future that we could create,
spk_0
it's beautiful. It's so wonderful. It's so much better and richer and more connected than the
spk_0
life that we necessarily live today. And I'm curious why we're struggling so hard to bring people
spk_0
along with that vision and to share that vision to huge pieces of the population.
spk_0
So I don't know if either of you have any thoughts on that, but that's something I'm very curious about.
spk_0
It's interesting. In the Buddhist tradition, the Buddha almost never answered the why question.
spk_0
He was much more practical and spoke about the how question.
spk_0
We have the circumstance we're in. As a psychologist, I would say a lot of it is based on fear.
spk_0
Maybe there are these two channels for human beings love and fear. Love is the connection and
spk_0
fear is the separation out of which all the other troubles arise. And perhaps some of our work is
spk_0
to both acknowledge that fear honorably and compassionately. And then to shine the light that
spk_0
there's another way. In the Matrix, I don't know if you've seen Matrix. They talk about how they
spk_0
created the first Matrix. And in first Matrix, everything was perfect. And for some reason, it failed.
spk_0
And so they had to create the other Matrix where things weren't so perfect. There was a little bit
spk_0
suffering. And I learned later in life that my name Rajiv in Sanskrit means Lotus. And brother
spk_0
Fahpru told me that when you take the Lotus out of the mud, it parishes. That it's only because of
spk_0
mud that the Lotus has the nourishment that it needs to become this beautiful Lotus. And
spk_0
I don't know if I'm answering a question. I'm trying to. But what I would say is that perhaps the
spk_0
reason that we're failing is that sometimes we paint a picture that is almost too far from reality
spk_0
for people to grasp onto. And we got to find a way to reach people authentically.
spk_0
And in a way that speaks truth to the reality that they are already facing. And I think
spk_0
other parts of our society in Washington and elsewhere have managed to in a way appeal to people's
spk_0
sense of frustrations. And we need to kind of tweak that a little bit. And so Utopia may not be the
spk_0
answer. We got to figure out with the trade offs that need to be made, we still have to find ways
spk_0
to pay for things. We still have to find ways to look after our most vulnerable. How can we
spk_0
protect? And as I said, probably why I collapsed. How do we deal with inequality on the one hand?
spk_0
And catastrophic climate change and loss of nature on the other hand. Because when I speak to
spk_0
communities in global south, for example, they say in Africa, for example, can't transition in the
spk_0
dark. 800 million people don't have access to electricity. And so we have to find a way to, I think,
spk_0
confront these very real questions as we navigate this transition from a very extractive
spk_0
system with a military industrial complex and all that comes with it towards a regenerative
spk_0
system that has sacred reciprocity and all of the values that we are striving for. But in a way that
spk_0
as the Buddha would have said, acknowledges the power of the middle way. I think the challenge for us
spk_0
is how can we articulate the middle way that transcends this polarization and kind of appeals to the
spk_0
purple, which perhaps may be a much larger community of the population than we believe.
spk_0
Yeah, thank you for that question. We're kind of winding down. And your answer was a beautiful
spk_0
platform, if you will, for engagement that is both inner and outer and not separating,
spk_0
not separating the two. Underneath, I'll go back to the reality of fear and separation,
spk_0
because a lot of what's happening, whether you say in Washington or other
spk_0
capitals, is also promoting separation and fear, as if it were real, as if we were separate in some way.
spk_0
And what I feel in this room and from what your work has been and the kind of teachings that we're
spk_0
drawing on, there's another deeper truth that we know. And that no political movement and no
spk_0
injustice, all of which need to be tended to, can turn us from that reality that we're connected.
spk_0
It's the truth. I have a little passage that I'll read you and then maybe we'll sit together
spk_0
unless there's something where he want to add as we close. And it's interesting, I have to be careful
spk_0
to read it in the way that one takes the words of an elder. This is from Bill Nijedi,
spk_0
who is an Aboriginal Australian stockman. And it's kind of his way of speaking,
spk_0
partly chanting and singing, the song lines. And so you can listen almost as a meditation.
spk_0
Well, I'll tell you about this story, about story where you feel.
spk_0
Listen carefully this, you can hear me. I tell in you, because earth, just like mother and father,
spk_0
and brother of you, that tree, the same thing.
spk_0
Your body, my body, I suppose, I'm same as you, everyone.
spk_0
3. Working when you're sleeping and dream.
spk_0
Daytime sun working for you. Night time, star you work in there, see.
spk_0
3. Working I can see. Always at night if you lie down, look up, careful.
spk_0
You work and see. When you sleep, bloody pumping. So you look, star, you go pink,
spk_0
you come white, see him work, you work. In the night you dream, lay down, that star you work in for
spk_0
you. Tree, grass, everything, working for you.
spk_0
3. We are embedded in vastness and something so mysterious and so connected.
spk_0
And we feel ourselves small and separate, but that's not the big reality.
spk_0
3. Working for you, this man says, this elder, this visionary, the world is working to breathe
spk_0
you and feed you and love you. And you get to do it back. You get to be part of that, we eat.
spk_0
So I am grateful to you, Rajeev, for your lifetime's work, kind of extraordinary to hear.
spk_0
I am grateful for all of you for coming together, for all of you who are online and listening.
spk_0
The love in the room is really palpable.
spk_0
It is the great power. So thank you all for attending those online and for you who are on the
spk_0
retreat. This is just the beginning. Something will be unfolding over the days ahead.
spk_0
Life conspiring for life. I like it. I like it.
spk_0
From the author of Be Here Now comes a powerful new guide for our times. There is no other, the way to
spk_0
harmony and wholeness by Ramdas, with a forward by Ann Lamott. This collection of newly gathered
spk_0
teachings offers a path to inner peace and unity. Reminding us the compassion, awareness and love
spk_0
are the keys to healing ourselves and our world. There is no other available October 21st wherever books
spk_0
are sold. Because as Ramdas reminds us, there is no other. It is all one. Visit shop.rommdas.org
spk_0
forward slash other to order your copy today.
Topics Covered
BetterHelp Online Therapy
heart wisdom podcast
Jack Cornfield
Professor Rajiv S. Joshi
climate action
regenerative entrepreneurship
tending your heart
suffering and beauty
meditation practice
inner climate
loving awareness
climate technology
community of climate leaders
transformative change
Buddhist wisdom
delight and enjoyment