Practitioners of meditation are often accused of navel-gazing, ignoring the problems of the real world. But with the rise of Engaged Buddhism and Ecodharma, it is clear that many practitioners are not satisfied with simply finding inner peace and want to use their practice to meet the needs of a hurting world. And in fact, Buddhism has had a long history of teaching fierce compassion - as evidenced by images of "wrathful deities." Compassion isn't just being nice; compassion is speaking truth to power and taking bold action.

Join us as we talk with Lama Willa Miller who is an expert in Tibetan Buddhism and Tantric practices, which are ways of working with the manifest. Tantra is a valuable tool for changemakers who are building a more just world and can offer ways of transforming the self for the sake of others. As the Bodhisattva vow says, none of us are free until all of us are free.

Willa B. Miller, PhD is the Founder and Spiritual Director of Natural Dharma Fellowship in Boston, MA and its retreat center Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, NH. She was authorized as a dharma teacher and lineage holder (lama) in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism after completion of two consecutive three-year retreats in the nineties. She is an editor, author and translator and holds a doctorate from Harvard University in Religion, and is currently Visiting Lecturer in Buddhist Ministry at Harvard Divinity School. Her academic teaching interests include Tantra and the Body, Buddhism and Ecology, and Buddhist Contemplative Care, among other topics. Outside of academia, her teaching specialties include the body as a door to awakening, natural meditation (mahamudra), and heart-cultivation (lojong). She is interested in the practical integration of meditation into daily life, and has participated as an advisor in several scientific studies on meditation.

For more info and show notes, visit www.listentotherising.com