Oren Jay Sofer, a seasoned Buddhist teacher and author of "Say What You Mean," discusses the optimistic undercurrents within Buddhism. He explains how hope is a skill rooted in the awareness of life's impermanence and the importance of detaching from outcomes. Oren argues that true hope requires present actions and emotional resilience, especially in facing global challenges like the climate crisis. He emphasizes the transformative power of mindfulness and community connection in nurturing hope and managing suffering.
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insights INSIGHT
Buddhist Hope
While Buddhism acknowledges life's hardships, it emphasizes the possibility of improvement.
It offers practical techniques for achieving this, making it inherently hopeful.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Practical Hope
Focus on present actions to create a better future, rather than solely wishing for it.
Recognize that specific outcomes are uncontrollable, but your actions still have impact.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Health Struggles
Oren Jay Sofer shares his experience with chronic health issues and the cycle of hope and despair.
Each new treatment brought hope, but the lack of immediate results led to disappointment.
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Buddhism can get a bad rap as being hopelessly pessimistic -- in no small measure because one of the Buddha’s first principal pronouncements was, “Life is suffering.” But if you listen to the rest of his spiel, you will hear that the Buddha acknowledges that life can be hard, but then goes on to say that we can make it better. He then spells out a bunch of practical techniques for doing so, which makes Buddhism essentially hopeful. We’re now in week two of our two-week series on hope, where we’ve been positing that hope isn’t just some vague, rosy state of mind -- it is, in fact, a skill. Today’s guest is Oren Jay Sofer, a Buddhist teacher who has been meditating for nearly a quarter century. He holds a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University and is the author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication. Oren’s view of hope starts with the Buddhist notion of impermanence. Everything is changing all the time. That doesn’t necessarily mean things are always guaranteed to get better. That brand of hope, Oren says, can lead to a sort of grasping that pulls us out of the present and ultimately feeds our suffering. Instead, Oren makes the counter-intuitive argument that in order to hope effectively, we have to detach from results and outcomes. Oren is also lending his expertise to our Hope is a Skill series in the Ten Percent Happier app. If you’re already a subscriber, make sure to check out our new meditations to hone your hope skills — including some from Oren. You can find them in the “Hope is a Skill” topic in the Singles tab, or by clicking here: https://10percenthappier.app.link/HopeIsASkill. And if you’re not yet a subscriber and want to check out Oren’s new meditations in our app, now is a great time to give it a go. You can download the Ten Percent Happier app here: https://www.tenpercent.com/ (or wherever you get your apps). Once you subscribe, you’ll have access to all the great resources in the Hope is a Skill series, as well as tons of content – meditations, talks, full-on courses – all designed to help you wherever you are on your meditation journey. Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/oren-jay-sofer-339
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