Compassion, Community and Kinship: Fostering Spiritual Interconnection
How can we, as individuals, contribute to the repair of the world and ourselves in this polarized time? Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde, author of Casting Indra’s Net, asks the questions “What happened to us? Why do so many choose brutality over mutuality? In this program she shares how we can do the necessary inner work to live as spiritual kin, caring for each other amidst global crisis and suffering.
Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde is a lawyer and has a doctor of theology in pastoral counseling. She is an activist, lay Buddhist teacher, professor, pastoral counselor, and writer. She is the co-editor of Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us About Race, Resilience, Transformation, and Freedom as well as the author of two volumes on pastoral care. Her articles appear in Buddha-dharma, Lion's Roar, Journal of Buddhist-Christian Studies, Religions and Feminist Theology. She also serves as an associate editor for Lion’s Roar magazine and has been featured on NBC.com, the Tamron Hall Show, and Sisters of AARP, and she appears regularly in major online summits concerning spirituality and caregiving.
WEBSITE: PamelaAyoYetunde.com Facebook: Pamela Ayo Yetunde
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THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: Dr. Ayo Yetunde said that she wrote this book, Casting Indra's Net, because she is concerned about how we are treating one another. She asks the questions “What happened to us? Why did many of us choose brutality over mutuality?” Those questions really struck me. She says "It is very dangerous now and I didn’t want to be one of those who didn’t say anything." I so appreciate how she brings in the spiritual teachings of the major spiritual traditions that teach about how we are all connected and what happens to one, happens to all. These spiritual teachings offer us tools to overcome this time of perceived separation. Dr. Yetunde reminds us that we are all inextricably part of Indra's net. There is no denying it. We all need to step up and recognize our place in Indra's net. We are supporting and are supported by each other. Ayo spoke so eloquently and clearly about the trouble we could be in if we don't begin to step up and speak up in a truthful but harmless way. That is what she means by the word "casting". This is another important program about how spiritual practice opens up our hearts and leads us towards compassionate action.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I so appreciated having Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde as a guest on The Yoga Hour to discuss her important book Casting Indra’s Net: Fostering Spiritual Kinship and Community. The Vedic story of Indra’s Net describes a network over the Earth where each point where the fibers cross contains a jewel that represents each of us. This story is contained in both Buddhist and Yoga traditions shows our interconnection, how we belong to something greater than ourselves, as well as representing our precious inner light. We discussed the need for civility. Civility, in this context, doesn’t mean being “nice" but rather being able to be compassionate, to listen deeply and to affirm each others fear and concerns and then come to a negotiated solution. I appreciated Dr. Yetunde’s “Platinum Rule” which goes beyond the Golden Rule of “treat others the way you’d like to be treated” to “treat others the way they need to be treated”.