Getting Un-Hooked: Discomfort, Suffering and Consumer Culture

The first Noble Truth of Buddhism is popularly translated as “life is suffering,” which is often misunderstood as a fatalistic view of a hostile world. In this episode, Ven Tenzin and guest host Mathew Divaris delve into the nuances between discomfort, which is inevitable in life, and suffering, which is not. In this wide ranging conversation, we see the connections between the human experience of dukkha (the pervasive sense of dissatisfaction), and capitalism’s obsession with driving us to comfort ourselves with consumption… often, with disastrous results.

Listen at KSQD.ORG.

Grief and Gratitude

This month we are joined by local NVC facilitator and coach Kristin Masters

For the last several years, local Santa Cruz Non-violent Communication facilitator and coach Kristin Masters has been leading a workshop titled “Grief and Gratitude.” Join us for this conversation with Kristin as we explore the relationship between grief, love, loss, and gratitude.

This time of year, many of us spend time with loved ones, and often are also acutely aware of the loved ones no longer with us. Kristin believes we were meant to deal with our grief, our losses of ALL kinds, in community with warmth and resonance. Both joys and heartbreaks bring us home to ourselves making us more ready for what’s ahead.

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Listen now at the KSQD website!

Cultivating Courage

In popular culture, courage is often portrayed as loud and showy, and patience as passive and inactive. Yet, in Buddhist philosophy, courage is a hallmark of patience, of facing life’s challenges with resilience and wise action. In this episode, Ven Tenzin speaks about the intrinsic link between patience and courage, and how we can build the courage to go outside of our own comfort zones and engage in meaningful action without losing our peace of mind.