Tara Brach - Freedom from Inner and Outer Tyranny: The Path of Spiritual Warriors

Episode Date: March 13, 2025

Many agree that this is the most unpredictable and dangerous time we've ever lived through. How do we hold what is unfolding, and respond with courage and clarity?  In this talk we reflect on the ways we become spiritual warriors dedicated to freeing ourselves from the inner domination of fear (hatred, delusion) and freeing our world from external forms of tyranny. In this talk, Tara explores: The roots of tyranny and fear—how unprocessed fear fuels aggression, domination, and the rise of authoritarianism. The power of belonging—why remembering our interconnectedness can empower resistance against oppression. Inner freedom as a path to outer change—how mindfulness and heart-centered practices dismantle fear and awaken courage. The role of the spiritual warrior—cultivating presence, compassion, and truth to stand against inner and outer oppression. Taking action from love, not fear—how small, heartfelt acts contribute to collective healing and justice. Listen to audio: https://www.tarabrach.com/talk-freedom-from-inner-and-outer-tyranny/

Greetings. We offer these podcasts freely and your support really makes a difference. To make a donation, please visit tarabrock.com. Namaste. Welcome, friends. Thank you so much for being here. So we'll start with a story. A number of years ago, there was an alleged radio conversation between a U.S. naval ship and Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland. So Americans say, please divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid a collision. The Canadians say, recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision. The Americans.

This is captain of a U.S. Navy ship. I say again, divert your course. Canadians, no. I say again, you need to divert your course. Americans sternly. This is the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln, the second largest ship in the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. We're accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers, and numerous support vessels. I demand that you change your course 15 degrees north.

That's one five degrees north. Our countermeasures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship. Canadians. This is a lighthouse. Your call. What seems mighty or powerful is often quite deluded and destructive. So it felt germane to these times to start this way, where we're experiencing just such dramatic increase in aggression and acts of domination

and great harm to those who are innocent, those who are vulnerable to our living earth. So, friends, this is the first new talk I've given a number of weeks and I wanted to take some time to reflect together how we might hold what's unfolding in our world and respond with a awake, with a courageous heart. So most would probably agree that the world feels more unpredictable and dangerous than ever, and that in some way we're collectively hijacked by fear, what I would call unprocessed fear. And in my way of understanding, it's this unprocessed fear that's driving the violence and aggression and moves towards domination, that we're in a collective limbic hijack, which of course disconnects us from the more evolved parts of

of our brain, a more integrated brain that includes moral sensibility and reason and compassion and empathy. And it's helpful to see that when fear takes over on a societal level, we get destructive in two key ways. And the first is that insecurity drives some humans to seek power over others. And quite simply, many feel safer when they're in. in control. And when we feel power, it increases testosterone, it decreases cortisol, which is stress hormone. So it reduces fear. Being in control reduces fear. A side note, because I got interested in research on power, is that the accumulation of power, and I think we know this intuitively, also reduces compassion and empathy. There's less distress at the suffering of others.

And as we know, a lot of power usually corrupts. I mean, studies show, and I've been kind of reviewing these studies that were more likely to deceive, to cheat, to endorse unethical behavior when there's a lot of power. In one study that we're more inclined to even take sweets from a jar, the participants were told that the jar was meant for children in the lab next door and they were more likely to take sweets from that jar if they were in a class that had power. But okay, let's get back to the main idea here, which is insecurity motivates many to seek power and control over others.

Insecurity also drives humans to grasp after stability and willingly surrender their freedom, the rights to tyrannical leaders. So there's two different ways that our insecurity actually becomes a catalyst for authoritarian rule. So from the fall of the Roman Republic to the rise of totalitarian regimes in the 20th century, to our current fragility of democracy and rise of authoritarian strongmen leaders, fear in the collective psyche is running the show. I keep thinking of Gandhi, who he was asked, what do you think of Western civilization? And his response was, it would be a good idea.

I mean, to think of it, civilization is supposed to be the evolved expression of our human culture. And it gets undermined when fear is dominant. and a luscerative story is of 11 people hanging tight to a rope that's dangling from a helicopter and 10 are men, one's a woman. And they agreed that someone needed to drop off or the rope would break and everybody would be killed. So after a lot of back and forth, the woman spoke and she said, okay, I'll be the one to do it. I'll be the one to let go of it. she went on to say, this is what women do, they sacrifice themselves for the well-being of

others and they do what they can to ensure others are taking care of. And when she was done, all the men started clapping. Okay, so it's not a great example, but the message is when we're in the group of fear, we don't tend to care that much about the common good. So, and I'm primarily been talking about the societal level, but individually, when we're caught in overwhelm, in chronic anxiety, and fear and panic. In other words, when we're tyrannized by fear, we lose contact with our full intelligence and heart. When fear dominates, it overshadows the goodness, the wholeness of what we are,

and it makes it harder to respond to outer tyranny. So I want to share a poem that's often with me. It's called hieroglyphic stairway by Drew Dellinger. It's 3.20,000. It's 3.2,000. 3 in the morning, and I'm awake because my great-great-grandchildren won't let me sleep. My great-great-grandchildren asked me in dreams, what did you do while the planet was plundered? What did you do when the earth was unraveling? Surely you did something when the season started failing, as the mammals, reptiles, birds, all were dying? Did you fill the streets with protest? when democracy was stolen? What did you do once you knew? I guess I take time with that and I read it and reflect on it because it feels like it touches the pulse of these times.

It brings this deep inquiry for me and I trust many of you how to help in such shadowy, painful times. And for many of us in the United States, there's a particular sense of shock and overwhelm and paralysis because we didn't think it could happen here. This undoing of democracy, the rise of autocracy, billionaires in charge, the attempt to shut down all that is compassion and intelligent about our government. The overt joining of hands with brutal oppressive regimes elsewhere, and here we are. So it's natural that it takes time to absorb the shock. You know, in other countries where radical change of the status quo has happened, emergence of authoritarian regimes, there's been a phase of being in disbelief, kind of frozen, fragmented, powerless,

sometimes numb and apathetic, deep down not knowing how to help. So we know, this spiking of fear, the spread of authoritarian rule is it's actually happening around the world and it's happened through human history. I mean rulers have abused power, violated human rights, taken other people's lands, colonized, enslaved, oppressed, sought absolute control. There's something else that's crucial to remember. This will be spending our time on through history humans have repeatedly rebuilt against different forms of tyranny. It's intrinsic to the human spirit, this call for justice, compassion, democratic principles of inclusion, freedom. And through history, this is more the inner side of it, through religions and spiritual traditions, indigenous,

through psychological past and practices, humans have sought inner freedom from the tyranny of fear, anger, hatred, delusion. So I think of Gandhi a lot who said, when I despair, I remember that all throughout history, the way of truth and love has always won. It feels very poignant right now, that it's only through an authentic kind of inner transformation, you know, deepening our dedication to truth, to love, that we have a hope for the future. It's that waking up to truth, to love, that can really guide us in rebuilding against outer tyranny, creating the world we believe in. And I'm emphasizing inner transformation because we know the suffering in our world can't be healed

through politics or science or technology. I mean, they can all be tools. But the fear and aggression that serves it coming from forgetting the truth of our belonging, our belonging to each other and to this living earth and to our own hearts. So it's a spiritual disease. It requires an inner transformation. And we have this capacity to increase our wisdom and compassion, but we need to purposefully tap into it, purposely awaken it.

So friends, I want to name right here from the get-go that I'm in the thick of this right here with you. I mean, I do wake up at 323 in the morning and worry about those who are dying right now because they're not getting promised humanitarian aid. I worry about friends who might be deported, about those who've lost jobs and so much more. So I'm working with the fears and the anger and the heartbreak and the overwhelm from news, and I'm trying to attune and feel my way through.

I was recently, I was in an interview, and I was asked how I was navigating. So I want to share with you the bullets. and then I'm going to dive into some of them more. So I'm navigating by meditating more. Same thing with Jonathan, my husband. Just need more time to really feel the feelings and to quiet this very activated mind

and open back into more natural awareness presence. We need time to tap into the loving. get shadowed over, but it's always here. So that's one thing. And I'm navigating by unplugging more from online activity, especially news. I mean, I keep informed, but, you know, the algorithms that promote polarization and mistrust, they're so strong. I mean, it's hubris to think we're not going to be impacted. They do keep our nervous system and fight-flight freeze. So I I feel like if we want to wake up from inner and outer tyranny, we need to be careful to unplug. I take a day off each week where I'm completely no news whatsoever, and then only during

certain windows during the day, not at the beginning, not at the end. I'm navigating by continuing to do what I love, which is walking in nature and swimming and playing with my pup and being with dear ones, what gives joy? And I want to say, please don't, let's say, out of guilt, deny yourself what brings joy. You know, it helps us to respond to help serve our precious world if we're resourcing ourselves and what nourishes. So, I'm navigating by talking with others. It's just so easy to feel isolated and powerless and hold the alarm of our chaotic, devolving, struggling world, just feel alone in it, and it helps to feel how many are caring. I'm navigating by doing what I can to help, and like so many, I'm not sure of what

most serves right now. I'm also where it's easy to be pulled by so many tragedies, so many causes, and one wise friend says, pay attention to what breaks your heart. And it may be just one or two things right now. It may be in a personal circle, a plight of a friend or family member or colleague, aren't maybe supporting an organization that's dedicated, something that feels crucial. Sense what breaks your heart and then just ask. You know, what is love asking? What is love asking from me? But we do know action absorbs anxiety. And if you're acting with others, it'll bring much spirit to your life. An archetype that I find is guiding me these days

and that speaks powerfully to these times is that of the spiritual warrior. It's the quality of heart and awareness that really can help us in dark times, help us wake up from the inner domination of fear, hatred, ignorance, and it's the archetype, it's got the courage and dedication to stand against outer tyranny.

to create a more loving, just world. The spiritual warrior fights darkness, not other humans. So I want to shift a little and remind you of a story that's familiar to many, maybe most. In a galaxy far, far away, a young farm boy, Luke Skywalker, discovers his destiny when he joins the Rebel Alliance to fight against the tyrannical galactic empire. Guided by the wisdom of Jedi masters, he learns the ways of the force, that mystical energy that binds all life in a loving oneness.

Haunted by the shadow of the fearsome Darth Vader, a fallen Jedi consumed by the dark side who leads the imperial military and hunts the rebel alliance, The key moment in this story is when Luke uncovers a shocking truth, which is that Darth Vader is his father. Then Luke faces his greatest test, and that is resisting the dark side, which in this case is the overtaking of anger and rage towards his father. That's the great battle, resisting the darkness of his own anger and rage, and instead focusing on the goodness.

is still buried within his father. In a final act of redemption, Vader turns against the emperor to save Luke, his son. So we can imagine the inner transformation of father and son is mirrored in a larger movement that stirs across the galaxy, that the oppressed, those who once felt powerless, begin to rise in the forces awakening in countless beings, bring in connection, and the will

to restore harmony, justice, compassion to the galaxy. Okay, so Star Wars, one of the most globally, maybe I should say galactically, who knows how many aliens have watched, but one of the most popular movie series ever, fans all over the world. I'll share what one wrote. My son Luke loves telling people he's named after a character from my favorite movie franchise. My daughter, Chubaca, Not so much. So that's a bit of an in-joke because Jubac is the name of a lovable character who's part of the Rebel Alliance. But it's really easy to understand the universal acclaim of Star Wars and similar myths and legends, as well as how many of us celebrate the real spiritual warriors in our world.

We want to trust that even in the darkest times, it's that spark or that. of resistance, of wisdom of love, it can ignite the flames of change. We can overcome the forces, the tyrannies. You know, I think of it that it's easy when we reflect on well-known spiritual warriors like Gandhi, like Martin Luther King Jr., like Nelson Mandela, just to assume, well, they're larger than life humans, it's not me. And yet, we each have this capacity. You know, the spiritual warrior that's within us that needs to be awakened and activated, there's

countless expressions. I was reading about Wangari Mothi, and I hope I'm saying her name right. She's a Kenyan woman rebel leader in the fight for environmental justice and democracy. She founded the Greenbelt movement, which empowered Kenyan women to plant millions of children. trees. It was to combat deforestation, but also as an act of resistance. It was defiance against the political oppression and economic exploitation. And she was arrested, she was beaten, she was ridiculed, and quite fearless. What I love about her is she had great faith in the power of each of us to resist tyranny. And she and her army of tree planters and activists, they grew

a movement that helped overthrow a dictatorship, reclaim public land, and inspire other global environmental movements around the world. So she was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. And I want to share one of the things she said. It's the little things citizens do. That's what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees. We can all be manifest spiritual warriors, plant trees, both internally by seeding our mind with mindfulness, arousing our care for the world, and externally by bringing our care to those around us, bringing our voice, our truths, our energy, our money, our time to our world, to the causes, the movements towards freedom. You know, when I reflect on the themes in Star Wars,

I reflect on the lives of well-known spiritual warriors, there's three common denominators that stand out. What we each can turn to and remember to bring our inner spiritual warrior alive. And for those of you familiar with Buddhism, you'll recognize these as the three refuges or portals to freedom. And I'll name them then I'm going to expand a bit just to see how each of them might help us deepen on the path. The first, and this isn't in the classic water, is remembering our belonging to each other. That's the first key piece.

The second is purposefully practicing, cultivating presence and heart. And the third, trusting the sacred essence within our soul. in all life, remembering our belonging, training our hearts and minds, and trusting the sacredness that is our essence. Okay, the first, remembering belonging in Buddhism as as described as Sangha, or the community of spiritual seekers. And, you know, just think of in Star Wars. The drama unfolded between Luke and his father, but freedom required the collective, the rebel alliance. Wangari Mothi. that belonged to a whole movement of Kenyan women. If we think we're supposed to save the world

as an individual, we're going to be overwhelmed, plus it's hubris and we'll feel failure. If we know we belong to something larger, we'd become empowered. A very dear friend was sharing a few weeks ago, his meeting with educators he was presenting. And one of the ways he opened was he described this as the first meeting of the educators, Revel Alliance. And most people came to the second day of the conference wearing the Rebel Alliance t-shirts from Star Wars. And he said they could feel how energizing that was. It touched some sense of larger belonging. And I loved hearing that. So I ordered for myself a Rebel Alliance t-shirt. It's very easy. You just go to Etsy. for show and tell I thought I'd show you the one I picked I was going to wear it but I kind of chickened out

but let me just say personally it helps me to sense there are so many of us who care and want to move this world towards more love more truth more freedom even if we're not consciously aware of belonging as a collective, especially right now. There's so much paralysis and confusion. But the truth is we are part of a rebellion against tyranny, inner and outer. We are part of a movement towards freedom. So it's important to name that Sanga, what we're talking about, this refuge, the Revel Alliance, it's not another in-group versus the out-group. The out-group. the people who will identify with the evil empire, the people rooting for Death Star to devastate the galaxy.

I mean really, nobody is a villain in their own movie, right? I believe that most people actually want a more just and loving world. Most people love their family, want to help their neighbor, don't identify with the dark side. Most people wish we weren't so divided. So belonging to something larger, to Sanga, to the Rebel Alliance, it's not about how we vote, liberal or conservative. I mean, birds need right and left wings to fly.

Now, our immediate Sanger community might be more like-minded, but unless we're dedicated to widening circles, we're subtly fueling divides. So the spirit of True Sanga, our community, is profoundly inclusive. It includes those who might not yet be consciously aware of how much their hearts yearn for more truth and love in our world. Now, I was in a gathering where Van Jones was speaking, and he was talking about our deep habit of separating by asking, are you like me? and he said what's more important is realizing that the other is asking do you like me can you see me as a human being that i'm also a grandpa or union guy or medical issues lost my son to meth if you like me we can

figure out a way to do something together the heart can always find common ground if we try Last year I had Father Greg Boyle on my podcast. It's another spiritual warrior. I'm sharing a lot of them with you today. Author of tattoos on the heart and other books, he works with gang members. It created what's called Homeboy Industries where people from different gangs who had been rivals, a lot of hatred, aggression, enemies, that they have come together and create a real loving, healing, community. So the big inquiry is, how is that possible? How do we create Sanga community? He describes talking with some large crowd and he said there's two unwavering principles at homeboy industries that really bring about this healing community. The first is that everyone is unshakably good, no exceptions. The second is we belong to each other. No exceptions. Now, do I think all of our vexing and complex social dilemmas would disappear if we

embrace these two notions? Yes, I do. I do. So, our first refuge as spiritual warriors is remembering we belong to each other. No exceptions. It may be in the most immediate way. It's our particular community of those who engage together, but ultimately there's no bounds to our belonging. And when we realize that, our true belonging, that's what brings forward soul force. That's what can change the world. Just want to pause here and just take a moment to reflect and invite you to do so. If you are not driving or something like that and you can close your eyes, that might be helpful. and just invite forward for yourself that sense of what you belong to, larger belonging to those who care.

And you might just bring to mind caring beings right now all around the world that really do want more truth, more love, more freedom. And you might imagine that through history, that throughout history it's just been an expression of the human spirit, to care, to sense our belonging, to try to help, and sense the future that there will be caring beings, trying to make a better world. You might even imagine the great-great-grandchild of someone who appears to be the opposition and you're a great-great-grandchild and imagine them joining hands together seeking more love, more healing in our world. If we can envision, we can bring it into reality.

Okay, so the first refuge, belonging to... Okay, so the first refuge, our larger belonging to community. The second is cultivating presence, cultivating our heart, the inner practices. We know the Jedi warriors and Star Wars, they did a discipline training, practices of mindful awareness, patience, clarity, balance so that they could meet fears and anger and hatred and not have those energies dominate. This is exactly what allowed Luke to step beyond anger and remember his father's goodness. He needed the training.

I think of Wangari Moth as grounding in nature, her chanting, her chanting, her conding, her contemplation, community ritual. We need this. I think of in Buddhism, this is the refuge called Dharma, the practices of meditation and prayer that help us to metabolize anxiety, to find balance, to enlarge our perspective, to remember what we love, most deeply to remember who we are. Zen Master Deknaudhan talks about the refugees from Vietnam and how they'd be on these very small boats. Storms and pirates were this constant great danger. And he says if one person could be calm, present, and open-hearted, it was a great help to everyone.

He says our earth is like a small boat. We need such people to inspire us. Only with such beings will our situation improve. improve. The spiritual text tell us that you are that person. Please, be your best self. Be that person. To be our best self, we need to intentionally cultivate our heart and awareness. I remember listening to an interview, Desmond Tutu was being interviewed and asked about his social activism and the person suggested that it was probably hard from him to find time for prayer and meditation with all the work he was leading and he gave a very animated response. He said, how do you think we could do any of this work

without prayer and meditation? Nelson Mandela practiced daily meditations with the course of his imprisonment, you know, dedicated to cultivating the goodness within himself. And as many know on that February day in 1990 when he walked out of prison, he said he forgave all those who imprisoned him, tortured him, and murdered his countrymen. One of my favorite quotes from him, No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or religion. They must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than the opposite. So love comes more naturally. It's more deep, more fundamental, and it needs to be tapped and cultivated. So as spiritual warriors, we need

to practice. We need to practice actively training and choosing love because we're in a culture that conditions us to harden our hearts, not to be vulnerable, that conditions us to cut off our own suffering and distance ourselves from others. Brian Stevenson, lawyer, social justice activist, known especially for his work, for those on death row, one of his key teachings is get proximate with others. And this is one of the key compassion trainings, I think, is crucial for spiritual warriors of these times, that the only way will feel compassion and respond to others is if we get proximate with that suffering. get proximate. I'm going to share a story that's another spiritual warrior story about

getting proximate. Brian Stevenson had an initiative. He started when there were people would go to lynching sites and they dig up the soil and put in a jar and that would be placed in a museum with the name of the victim. So it's really opening the heart to the truth of past suffering, how it's living in present days and very restorative, a kind of redemptive act. Well, one African-American woman was participating, she went out to a remote area with a paper telling the story of the lynching that happened there. And she was about to start digging when a truck drove by. And there was this white man in the truck who slowed down, drove by and stared at her, and then turned around and drove back. He parked and kept, stayed in the truck,

staring and then she got very nervous and even more so when he got out of the truck and walked her and then he said what are you doing and she responded I'm digging soil because this is where a black man was lynched in 1931 and she kind of gestured to the paper because I'm going to honor his life and she said that she was so scared that she started digging really fast and the man just stood there and then he said does the paper talk about the lynching and she said yes it does And then he said, can I read it? And she gave the man the paper, and he stood there reading while she was digging. And then he put the paper down and stunned her by asking,

would it be okay if I helped you? And then this white man got in his knees, and she offered him a little plow to dig, but he said, no, no, you use that. And he started throwing his hands into the soil with such force, and his hands were getting coated with black soil, and they were turning black. And it moved her. and she said the next thing she knew, she had tears running down her face, and he stopped and said, oh, I'm so sorry for upsetting you.

And she said, no, no, no, you're blessing me. And they kept putting soil in the jar. And they got the jar almost full, and she noticed toward the end that the man was slowing down and his shoulders were shaking. And she turned and she looked and she saw the man had tears running down his face. And she stopped. And she put her hand on the man's shoulder. She said, are you all right? And that's when the man said to her, no, I'm just so worried that it might have been my grandparents

that were involved in lynching this man. And she said they both sat there with tears running down their faces. In telling the story, Brian Stevenson says that beautiful things like that don't always happen when you tell the truth about history. But until we commit to some acts like that until we tell the truth, we deny ourselves the beauty of redemption, the beauty of restoration. These are the actions of spiritual warriors. We need to be brave, to be proximate with the truth of our own wounds, of others' wounds of the earth. It's when we open to the realness of the suffering that we then get tender and we respond. So each of us can train. Each of us can practice in getting proximate with exactly what we're feeling right now and with others who are hurting

and then widen to include those who may be different and are also hurting. Ticknodhan reminds us that humans are not the enemy. It's the forces of fear, anger, greed, delusion that when they take over they cause suffering. Which means for me that if I'm locked into anger at someone who's been hijacked by greed, who's causing suffering, participating in ceding the cycles of violence. You know, it's possible. Here's the possibility that as spiritual warriors we can remember that under the anger there's something we care about and connect with that caring and act from that caring.

and from that space of caring, look at others and remember, humans are not the enemy. This is the force of greed, hatred, delusion when it's taken over. Now, I know people say, well, but if others are causing such great suffering, don't they deserve my aversion? Again, this is from Brian Stevenson. He says it's not about what they deserve. It's about what you want for your heart. a prison of hatred are the freedom of love. So this is the second refuge, the Dharma, training our hearts and minds so that we can choose love.

Okay, the first refuge, remember a larger belonging. The second refuge, cultivate presence and awake heart. The third is trusting who we really are, what's sometimes called our Buddha nature, our essential goodness, the divinity, the loving awareness, it lives through us in all beings. You know, in Star Wars, it's the force that's always with us and we need to access it. For Wangari Matha, it's the living spirit that pervades all life. So the practice to trust it, to remember this is within us all, it's here now always. As Father Greg says, no exceptions. If you're here listening right now, you probably have touched and intuit the sacredness. Maybe you tasted it in moments of awe, or you're taking in the

beauty of nature, moments when your heart opens, wide and loving, maybe in moments of stillness or silence when you're meditating. You can kind of sense that there's a oneness, a formless, divine presence that suffuses all being. This refuge of true nature, whether we call it Buddha nature, God, or Brahma, or spirit, or divine, or great mystery, it is the grounds of the spiritual warrior, trusting, indwelling spirit. It's a source of true power, inner freedom, clarity, wisdom, love. I think of Harriet Tubman, and I am sharing some of my favorite spiritual warriors, how her unwavering faith in God fueled her courage, allowed her return again and again into danger and to lead, enslaved people to freedom through the Underground Railroad. And she was known for

this extraordinary intuition. There are amazing stories. She was guided by this uncanny sense of when danger was near, when to hide, when to move. And she had this clarity because she sensed her mission was not the work of a human ego, but it was holy work. So she comes to mind a lot these days as the oppression and cruelty of these times call for that kind of a brave, spirited response. Maybe for some it'll be in serving a contemporary version of the Underground Railroad. She also comes to mind because we have that great spirit within us.

There is so much grace when we trust that inner goodness and let it guide us. So I want to closing up here with again the words of Drew Dellinger. Take some moments and we'll do a little bit of a closing meditation. It's 3.23 in the morning and I'm awake because my great-great-grandchildren won't let me sleep. My great-great-grandchildren ask me in dreams, what did you do while the planet was plundered? What did you do when the earth was unraveling? Did you fill the streets with protest when democracy was stolen? What did you do once you knew? It's easy to get overwhelmed by the great unraveling of decency, goodness in the larger society. Keep remembering Gandhi all throughout

history, the way of truth and love, has always won. And now is the time that each of us is really called forward as spiritual warriors to be part of the emergence of truth and love in our current world. Today, we reviewed the three refugees that can nourish and bring alive the spiritual warrior, remembering our belonging, that we're all in it together, cultivating presence, cultivating open-heartedness, and trusting basic goodness, the spirit that dwells within you and all beings. The more you trust, the more that will guide you in taking action and sensing for yourself, what is love asking? and then planting trees, each in our own way.

As Clarissa Pecola Estes put it, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. So let's close together, dear friends. Let's close with a vision of what's possible and the power of our shared prayer. Take a moment, feel the breath, perhaps extend the breath a bit.

So it helps to call you into your body, body and into your heart. Let your senses be awake and feel the quality of presence that's here. And allow yourself to envision a growing movement of those dedicated to inner and outer freedom, dedicated to the emergence of truth, of love. Imagine this all around the globe, energetically holding hands, heart to heart. and feeling our shared prayer. May all beings remember their essence as loving awareness.

May all beings live from loving awareness. May we experience a growing justice, compassion, and peace in our world. May all beings everywhere awaken and be free. Thank you for your attention, your presence, all blessings, all love.