This episode is a spontaneous response to the intense sorrow that I see so many of my friends in multiple places of the world experiencing right now, whether directly or indirectly. So I have invited my dear friend Leo Lok for a conversation about suffering, sorrow, Guanyin, compassion, and processing and transforming emotions. We invoke the healing power of religious maternal figures in both of our life histories, from the Virgen de Guadalupe in the American Southwest to the Bodhisattva Guanyin/Kannon all over East Asia, to the Virgin Mary in my native Bavaria. With their assistance, we explore what we each can do, as deeply sensitive human beings, with the sorrow that we are feeling, without either suppressing it on the one extreme, or drowning in it on the other. Ultimately, this is a conversation about being human and keeping your heart open, and about being of service in a world that makes that pretty darn difficult right now. May our conversation be helpful to you!

Additional Information

• Roshi Joan Halifax Meditation on Transforming Grief