Transforming Loneliness | TWOII podcast | Episode #43 |
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In the last podcast recording of 2022, the presenters - Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and journalist Jo Confino - are joined by Zen Buddhist nun Sister Jina (the special guest in episode 14, ‘I Have Arrived, I Am Home; What a Blessing’). Together, they discuss loneliness, and how the Buddha’s teachings and Plum Village practices and exercises can help us come back to ourselves, and feel connected and part of life. The three also share moments of loneliness from different points in their lives.
Sister Jina (Sister Dieu Nghiem, translated as Sister True Wonder) further shares about coming home to oneself; creating self-compassion; people's fears about looking inside themselves for answers; and learning from our mistakes. Brother Phap Huu shares about Thich Nhat Hanh’s view of happiness, gratitude, and on identifying the goodness in life; ignoring our suffering; connecting to our true self; the temptation to retell stories of our suffering; the void and taking care of our wellness; learning to forgive; learning to be flexible; the practice of touching the earth; tree hugging; and silence. Jo shares about feeling worthless and lonely in front of 400 people; reaching out to others when suffering from loneliness; learning to love oneself; gifting presence to ourselves and others; and interbeing. The episode ends with a short meditation guided by Brother Phap Huu. “We send our hearts out to you and hope that this conversation has brought some balm to your lives, and that over this period of days and weeks you find a sense of peace, a sense of calm, a sense of rootedness, and a sense of love and gratitude for yourself.” 🎇 See you in the new year! ------- Timestamps: 00:01:30 Intro Sister Jina 00:02:50 Experiencing Loneliness as a Monk (Brother Phap Huu) 00:11:35 Experiencing Loneliness as a Child (Jo Confino) 00:13:45 Experiencing Loneliness as an Adult (Jo Confino) 00:17:10 Practices to Help Us When We’re Feeling a Sense of Separation 00:22:40 The Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone 00:30:00 What Keeps Us From Coming Home to Ourselves? 00:31:55 What Is the Feeling of Being at Home? Learning from Mistakes, Self-compassion 00:34:10 People’s Fears of Looking Inside 00:36:25 Entering the Void 00:46:58 Self-discovery, Liking and Loving Oneself, Helping Others 00:49:25 Creating Self-love and Self-compassion 00:52:18 Learning to Forgive Oneself 00:54:00 Supporting Others to Come Home to Themselves 00:56:20 Many Ways of Love and Gifting Presence 00:56:55 Being with People in Their Suffering 00:58:27 Best Way to Be Present During Family Gatherings 1:01:16 Learning to Be Flexible 1:06:56 Practices to Support Interbeing 1:10:05 The Practices of the Three and the Five Earth Touchings 1:10:46 The Practice of Walking Meditation, Tree Hugging 1:13:45 Short Guided Meditation 1:20:51 Outro ------ 🎧 Listen to previous episodes on YouTube ➛ http://pvapp.to/twoii-episodes ------- 🔔 The Way Out Is In: The Zen Art of Living is a podcast series mirroring Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s deep teachings of Buddhist philosophy: a simple yet profound methodology for dealing with our suffering, and for creating more happiness and joy in our lives. 🔔 ------- The podcast is co-produced by the Plum Village App: https://plumvillage.app/ And Global Optimism: https://globaloptimism.com/ With support from the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation: https://thichnhathanhfoundation.org/ ------- 🎧 Listen to the podcast on the (completely free) Plum Village App ➛ https://web.plumvillage.app/talks/the-way-out-is-in and other streaming services. ------- Resources: Plum Village Community ➛ https://plumvillage.org/ Thich Nhat Hanh ➛ https://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/ 🎙️ Sister Jina ➛ https://plumvillage.org/people/dharma-teachers/sr-dieu-nghiem/ 🎙️ Brother Phap Huu ➛ https://plumvillage.org/people/dharma-teachers/br-phap-huu/ 🎙️ Jo Confino ➛ https://www.instagram.com/joconfino/ The Way Out Is In: ‘I Have Arrived, I Am Home; What a Blessing’ ➛ https://plumvillage.org/podcast/i-have-arrived-i-am-home-what-a-blessing-episode-14/ Dharma Talks: ‘Interbeing and Store Consciousness’ ➛ https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/interbeing-and-store-consciousness/ Climate Week ➛ https://www.climateweeknyc.org/ Sutras: ‘Discourse on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone’ ➛ https://plumvillage.org/library/sutras/discourse-on-knowing-the-better-way-to-live-alone/ Our Appointment with Life: Sutra on Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone ➛ https://www.parallax.org/product/our-appointment-with-life-sutra-on-knowing-the-better-way-to-live-alone/ Thich Nhat Hanh: Live Our Life Whole: The Surface and the Depth of Our Being (4 February, 1993) ➛ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bUNFiPBIsw ‘The Five Earth Touchings’ ➛ https://plumvillage.org/key-practice-texts/the-five-earth-touchings/ Help us caption and translate this video: https://web.plumvillage.app/subs?yt=qo5BBD6B8lA #TheWayOutIsIn #ThichNhatHanh #PlumVillageApp #twoii |