Ram Dass on the Practice of Presence, Sharon Salzberg interviews Rhonda V. Magee, and a re-watch of Benjy Wertheimer's livestream

This week's resources for resilience

Photo by Peter Simon   Ram Dass Article: Cultivating the practice of “Be Here Now” in each moment   As you study the way in which your mind works in each moment, the way in which a concentrated mind deals with the world, as opposed to a diffused mind, you see the way in which this lack of being able to be at the office when you’re at the office, or at home when you’re at home, reduces your effectiveness in each of them. I notice that there was a stage where I was always ‘time binding’ - when I was here with you, I was anticipating the fact that Saturday I’ll be at the temple, Sunday I’ll be flying to California, Monday I’ll be with ‘Creating our Future,’ and then I’ll be in Europe… I mean, it was all real in the moment, and I constantly had to sequence the ‘where I came from’ with the ‘where I was going’ in my mind… so I was always planning and anticipating...   Continue Reading

Featured Podcast

Sharon Salzberg Hosts Rhonda V. Magee for a conversation on the inner work of racial justice   For episode 125 of the Metta Hour, Sharon is re-releasing a previously released episode of the podcast from 2018, featuring a conversation with colleague Rhonda V. Magee. Rhonda is Professor of Law at the University of San Francisco, and is an internationally-recognized thought and practice leader on integrating Mindfulness into Higher Education, Law and Social Justice. She is the author of the 2019 book, “The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness.” In this conversation, Rhonda and Sharon discuss a holistic approach for compassionate and restorative justice in underserved communities and the different levels of social change that exist– and how to work in those levels for real growth. The episode closes with an eight-minute guided meditation led by Rhonda.   Listen Here

Featured Livestream Replay

[Video] Putting Love into Action: Reflections for Our Times with Benjy Wertheimer   Watch last week's livestream event on transforming love into action with devotional musician, instrumentalist and teacher Benjy Wertheimer. Understanding exactly how to serve is one of the greatest blessings in life. Yet how do we find the practices and offerings that fully put our love into action? How do we evolve with life and continue to offer our unique dharma and loving service into the world? This sort of inquiry and introspection has never felt more important than it does as we face the chaos, uncertainty, upheaval, and opportunities we find in 2020. In this virtual event, we explore these questions, offering some musical and devotional practices, and share stories and perspectives that invite each of us to deepen our love-in-action, spiritual practice, and compassion.   Rewatch Here  [Livestream available until Tuesday, July 7th]