Mindrolling With Raghu Markus

Raghu and his son Noah talk with Joseph Goldstein about the necessity of embracing suffering in order to activate compassion.Raghu, Joseph, and Noah explore these topics:Empathy and compassion for global sufferingFixing your own heart in order to offer compassion to othersLessons from Tsoknyi Rinpoche on “California Compassion”Checking in with our motivations and intentionsThe tendency to avoid sufferingHow a willingness to look at suffering is a precursor to compassionRenunciation and the willingness to let go of our own comfortReminding ourselves that it is okay to feel the unpleasantUsing suffering to learn something meaningfulThe suffering that comes along with agingMeditating on the our finitenessA guided Mudita practice with Joseph“Compassion arises when we’re willing to come close to suffering. That’s the cause for compassion, and if we don’t have that willingness, it’s not going to arise because the compassion is in response to the suffering in the world, in other people, even in ourselves.” – Joseph