Speaker: Jasmine Pema. Jasmine contemplates how exploring our fears allows us to cultivate a more genuine sense of refuge, recognize how essential our feminine and masculine aspects are to our wellbeing, and balance our inner guru with the outer guidance of the teacher and lineage. Working with fears, whether it be our fear of recognizing our doubts about Buddhism, our fear of others who differ from us, or our fear of the coronavirus pandemic, offers opportunities for growth; it is by exploring our fears that we transform them into wisdom. Though it may be uncomfortable for practitioners to question the male-dominated traditions of Buddhism, its own tenets require us to investigate our minds; doing so allows us to cultivate authentic refuge and devotion. In the process, we cultivate our connection to our inner guru, balancing it with our connection to our teacher and lineage. From this perspective, the coronavirus pandemic and the fear it arouses invite us to reconsider the conventional view of productivity as “good” and rest as “bad.” By recognizing the need to balance both the masculine and feminine aspects of our energies and our society, we open ourselves to the opportunity to become more united, egalitarian, and compassionate individuals and societies.

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