Ep. #12 | Let your Heartbreak Be your Guide | feat. Adam Bucko

Join Swami Padmanabha and Father Adam Bucko, a contemplative author, Episcopal priest, founder of the Reciprocity Foundation and The Center for Spiritual Imagination, and committed voice in the movement for renewal of Christian Contemplative Spirituality and the growing New Monastic movement, come together to share their experiences of Radical Activism.

Quote From Radical Personalism that opens the discussion:
“In connection to the above point, social action and involvement should be encouraged in the Gaudiya community for those so inclined, and they should be properly educated by the elders as to how to engage in compassionate social action. We call this Radical Activism…’A spirituality that is only private and self-absorbed, one devoid of an authentic political and social consciousness, does little to halt the suicidal juggernaut of history. On the other hand, an activism that is not purified by profound spiritual and psychological self-awareness and rooted in divine truth, wisdom, and compassion, will only perpetuate the problem it is trying to solve, however righteous its intentions.’* Properly executed and complemented, every action can become prayer and every prayer can become action that influences the world in ways beyond our imagination.”
* (Andrew Harvey)

• Adam shares what Radical Personalism is to him: that each and every one of us should respond to the cry of the world - whether that is people struggling with housing insecurities or people who are being oppressed—that we need to respond in a personal way and not wait for institutions. It also points to the Ultimate Reality, a reality that personally loves us.

• As discussed in Adam’s latest book, Let Your Heartbreak Be Your Guide: Lessons in Engaged Contemplation, he brings to question WHAT HAS FOLLOWING OUR BLISS resulted in? Instead FOLLOW OUR HEARTBREAK.

• Continuing to go deeper into this, they discuss the profound relationship between joy and suffering; not the kind of joy that encourages us to avoid life, but the kind of joy that can face the difficulties and the suffering and still survive.

• Allowing the pain of others to touch of deeply (this was also spoken about during Ilia Delio and Swami Padmanabha’s conversation of Ilia’s podcast, Hunger for Wholeness), gives the space for the spirit of god to flow thru us and leads us into a life of compassionate service.

• Approaching people in need as if they are a project to be solved was not working for Adam. He realized that he needed to show up for people as he shows up in prayer. Being receptive and breaking with people, accompanying them through their suffering reveals the healing presence.

• Both Adam and Swami share how their traditions speak of praying as not limited to one act, but that every action can be prayer. Action not just RELATED to contemplation, but action AS contemplation.

• The paradox of Individuation in Service: on one hand, the goal is to find your purpose and mission in life and on the other hand, becoming an empty vessel in which God can live. It is our conception of ourselves, even our specialness, that has to die and in the process we discover the most of ourselves we have ever been.

• Swami asks Adam to share his experience in transitioning from monastic life to married life for him and his wife, who was a Buddhist nun for 15 years. Adam shares his profound response about love, vows, and reflecting god’s unconditional acceptance.

and much much more…

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