Ram Dass on internal and external suffering + your weekly resources for resilience

Dear Community, This week I want to share an 11-minute video from Ram Dass on ways we can witness our suffering with less self-judgment and blame. It's from a lecture that took place in the late 80's, and includes some Q&A from the audience. You can find that video below along with the rest of your weekly content. You'll also find an article from Ram Dass on finding our center in order to calm our overactive nervous systems, and three timely podcasts released by Be Here Now Network this week: Mindfulness teacher Francesca Maximé hosts Dr. James Doty for a conversation around compassionate action, building healthy self-esteem, and making the shift from fear mode to love mode. Ram Dev shares a dharma talk on how we can ease our suffering by offering compassion to our fear. Finally, Raghu Markus calls on James Gordon, MD, to provide some tools to help us transform trauma and embrace hope. I hope these resources bring some clarity and timely wisdom to your internal world. I will be in touch next week with more content, take good care. Rachael LSRF Development Director Weekly Resources for Resilience from Ram Dass & Be Here Now Podcast Network 1980's Archival Video: Ram Dass on Growing with Suffering (11:29) Ram Dass gives a lecture on internal and external suffering, exploring the ways that our resistance to suffering creates more suffering for ourselves and for others. Let's practice listening and watching our own reactions to our own stories, and hopefully we can begin to quiet down and sit with the presence of suffering. Watch Here Weekly Article: Ram Dass on Finding Your Center (5-minute read)  Just center yourself in silence for a moment. Instead of waiting for something to happen, flip it just slightly and just be in it. Are you really here or are you just waiting for the next thing? It’s interesting to see where we are in relation to time; whether we’re always just between what just happened and what happens next, or whether we can just be here now... Read Here Featured Podcast: Francesca Maximé on ReRooted – Ep. 26 – The Shift from Fear to Love with James Doty, MD (46:39) Francesca welcomes James Doty, MD, to the show and asks about getting rerooted to our true, compassionate nature. They discuss the reality of suffering and trauma, and the false narrative of rugged individualism in our culture. James reminds us all about the power of compassionate action, even in this new age of social distancing... Listen Here Featured Podcast: Ram Dev (Dale Borglum) on Healing at the Edge – Ep. 46 – Compassion for Our Fear (33:08) Ram Dev shares a dharma talk on how we can ease our suffering by offering compassion to our fear. What happens when we bring our attention to our fear, instead of running away from it? Ram Dev reflects on our relationship with fear and what happens when we offer compassion to fear when it arises... Listen Here Featured Podcast: Mindrolling with Raghu Markus – Ep. 336 – Transforming Trauma with James Gordon, MD (1:00) With the Coronavirus raging worldwide, Raghu Markus calls on James Gordon, MD, to provide some tools to help us transform trauma and embrace hope. Raghu asks James for his take on the Coronavirus epidemic and the worldwide psychological trauma we’re all undergoing right now. James explores the concept of post-traumatic growth... Listen Here