Bringing Our Practice to These Difficult Times - Donald Rothberg

How can our Buddhist practice make a difference in the face of all the challenges of the modern world?

Drawing on his decades of experience as a teacher, activist, and meditator, Donald Rothberg issues an urgent call to integrate the deepest aspects of Buddhist practice with the pressing needs of our time. By uniting meditation, ethics, emotional work, joy, and conscious action, he maps out a path that combines inner development with outward action.

The Five Themes of Practice

Donald structures his talk around five essential themes that support a holistic Buddhist path:

1. Bridging Inner and Outer Transformation:
   Buddhist practice is often internal, but Donald emphasizes its potential to transform society as well. He reminds practitioners that meditation and activism need not be separate and that cycles of inner and outer focus are natural.
2. Ethics as Foundational:
   Ethics (sila) is a cornerstone of Buddhist training, often overlooked in the West. Donald reimagines ethics as a “commitment to care” and encourages practitioners to see ethical precepts not only as personal guidelines but as vehicles for social justice.
3. Working with Difficult Emotions:
   Emotions such as fear, anger, and despair are not barriers to practice but rich material for growth. Donald introduces practices like the “truth mandala” to help individuals and communities process collective grief and rage.
4. Nurturing Joy:
   Amid crises, joy becomes an act of resistance and resilience. Donald illustrates how joy is part of our inner nature and can be cultivated through song, ritual, and community—citing Emma Goldman and Rabbi Nachman as examples.
5. Listening for What Calls You:
   Rather than trying to solve all the world’s problems, Donald advises identifying one issue that deeply resonates. From there, he suggests taking concrete, manageable steps to become involved, guided by what enlivens us.

Donald expands the traditional view of ethics beyond individual behavior to include social responsibility, discussing how community plays a central role in supporting ethical practice. He shares how personal suffering can be transformed into a source of connection and compassion.

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Donald Rothberg, Ph.D., is a member of the Teachers Council at Spirit Rock Center, a guiding teacher for the Marin Sangha in San Rafael, California, and a regular teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, California, Southern Dharma Retreat Center, InsightLA, and New York Insight.

He teaches retreats and groups on concentration and insight meditation practice, lovingkindness practice, transforming the judgmental mind, mindful communication, working skillfully with conflict, and socially engaged Buddhism.

He has practiced insight meditation since 1976, and has also received training in Tibetan Dzogchen, body-based psychotherapy, and trauma work. He has helped guide many six-month to two-year training programs in socially engaged spirituality, both Buddhist-based and interfaith, and is the author of The Engaged Spiritual Life: A Buddhist Approach to Transforming Ourselves and the World, and the co-editor of Ken Wilber in Dialogue.

Learn more at https://donaldrothberg.com

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CREDITS
Audio Engineer: George Hubbard
Producer: Tom Bruein
Music/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter