Join host Dr. Larry Ward as he explores current events through the lens of Buddhism and neuroscience, sharing practical skills for how to engage with the inform...
In this special mini-episode, Dr. Larry Ward shares his wise words and reflections on the 2024 US election, inspired by the teachings and practices of Beyond the News. As Larry says, "Every election by its nature brings possibility, anxiety, and hope. This is true for society to grow in the improvement of itself for its citizens." As the US election approaches, we invite you to revisit the episodes of Beyond the News so that you may discover practices to help you stay safe, grounded and mindful with how you respond to what you see and hear in the news in the coming days. BONUS: Larry closes with a new poem, A Message to the Ego That Wants to Rule the World.Support the showBeyond the News is made possible through the generous support from Hemera Foundation and the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation. You can help us continue our podcast offerings by giving to thelotusinstitute.org/donate. Your generosity is a gift that supports our programs and events, and the Lotus Institute's global community of friends like you. In gratitude.
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Ep. 10: The Treasures of Self-Knowledge
Self-knowledge is about understanding and opening to the potential that is rising to the surface of your life. In the series finale, Dr. Larry Ward outlines the key takeaways from the past 9 episodes, while sharing a few personal stories and poetic wisdoms along the way.For Dr. Ward, Beyond the News was a journey of discovery and an invitation to learn to listen to our bodies and minds as we listen to the world through the news. The stories and events in each episode served as a vehicle for a larger teaching: as humans, for us to find resiliency and joy in challenging times, we must change our way of seeing and looking at things. Quotes:“Our thinking flows like a river. To master your potential is to understand how you think.”“We have within us the potential of all humanity.”“If millions of us each make a small change, we can make a huge difference. Do not let yourself be confined by your fears for the world.”Support the showBeyond the News is made possible through the generous support from Hemera Foundation and the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation. You can help us continue our podcast offerings by giving to thelotusinstitute.org/donate. Your generosity is a gift that supports our programs and events, and the Lotus Institute's global community of friends like you. In gratitude.
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Ep. 9: From Fear to Freedom
What role does fear play in defining the limits of your heart and mind?Our fears, be they related to abandonment, powerlessness or environmental and social crises, can block us from realizing our true potential. They set boundaries to the capacity of our hearts and minds to be creative and free. Doom scrolling and consuming too much distressing news only serves to amplify these fears and anxieties.In this episode, Dr. Ward outlines the steps we can take to begin moving from fear to freedom. The first step is to develop an awareness of our fears and how they define not our physical limitations, but our inner limits. By understanding how to respond to these fears, we can transform our relationship with them, and begin to overcome the narratives and thought patterns that impede our evolution.“When you let go of hanging on to your fear, you let go of the limits that are blocking you and you gain a better understanding of what you are here on this planet to help with.”—Dr. Larry Ward Practices to go deeper:Journal about your life and your relationship to the news and current events by using these prompts:What are your current fears, and how do they block you?How do you stand in the way of the purpose and meaning of your precious life?What stories or habits are keeping you from your next adventure?What is your mantra for this moment in your life? ---------------Support the showBeyond the News is made possible through the generous support from Hemera Foundation and the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation. You can help us continue our podcast offerings by giving to thelotusinstitute.org/donate. Your generosity is a gift that supports our programs and events, and the Lotus Institute's global community of friends like you. In gratitude.
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Ep. 8: Imprints of Potential
Close your eyes and picture your mind as a garden. There, planted deep in the soil are seeds or imprints. Imprints like anger, jealousy and hatred, or joy, generosity and compassion. When we listen to or read the news, these seeds have the capacity to rise to the surface and affect how we think, speak and act. The practice before us, says. Dr Ward, is to grow our awareness of how to water the wholesome seeds that will lead us to a shared place of justice, wellness and harmony.Go deeper with this practice:First, enjoy 5–10 minutes of mindful breathing and coming home to yourself. Then, as in a guided meditation, invite yourself to look into your heart and mind and ask yourself the following 4 questions:What beautiful, wholesome fruit has arisen that blesses your life, and the life of others, with goodness?What seeds in your life need more attention?What seeds have emerged that you do not want present in your life?What unwholesome seeds, like anger, fear or jealousy, do not dominate your life?“If we continue to explore the discovery of self-knowledge that the news can give us, we can discover amazing things about ourselves, and not be carried away by the narrative and rhetoric of the news we encounter.”—Dr. Larry WardSupport the showBeyond the News is made possible through the generous support from Hemera Foundation and the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation. You can help us continue our podcast offerings by giving to thelotusinstitute.org/donate. Your generosity is a gift that supports our programs and events, and the Lotus Institute's global community of friends like you. In gratitude.
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Ep. 7: Thought Patterns
We turn our attention to thought patterns and the narratives and stories we tell ourselves as we encounter the news. On average, a young adult can have over 6,000 thoughts in just one day. And when we attach an emotion to one of these thoughts, it can become real to us and affect how we feel. By learning how to pause and examine our thoughts more closely, says Dr. Ward, we can gain control over the narratives we create and learn to live with greater equanimity and awareness.Go deeper with this practice:In this episode, Dr. Ward mentions the 5-steps to unpack your thought patterns: notice, accept, name, embrace and investigate. First, enjoy 5–10 minutes of mindful breathing and coming home to yourself. Then, as in a guided meditation, invite yourself to look into your heart and mind and ask the following questions:Notice: What thoughts arise in you as you hear and see a story in the news? Accept: Can you receive and accept the response that comes up in your body and mind?Name: What name can you give to that pattern of thought?Embrace: Can you embrace what you discover in yourself? Can you embrace the mirror of your thoughts?Investigate: Why was that story so powerful for me? Where did the energy of this one thought pattern come from?The news stories mentioned in this episode took place around May 2023. The teachings within each story are timeless.Support the showBeyond the News is made possible through the generous support from Hemera Foundation and the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation. You can help us continue our podcast offerings by giving to thelotusinstitute.org/donate. Your generosity is a gift that supports our programs and events, and the Lotus Institute's global community of friends like you. In gratitude.
Join host Dr. Larry Ward as he explores current events through the lens of Buddhism and neuroscience, sharing practical skills for how to engage with the information we receive from the wider world. While we cannot ignore the news or modern media, we can learn new ways to shift our perspective from reactivity to reflection, and gain a deeper understanding of our body and mind along the way. Dr. Ward is the author of America’s Racial Karma, a senior teacher in the Plum Village tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and the co-founder of The Lotus Institute. He brings an interdisciplinary approach to his "Deep Buddhism" teachings, incorporating elements of Buddhist psychology with neuroscience, trauma resiliency and social imagination.