Soul Search

In a world that prizes self-interest, is compassion a weakness? In 1992 the Dalai Lama asked a psychologist, instead of focusing only on negative emotions, why don't we study happiness and compassion? Now, the psychology of compassion has become an established field, and a place for rich conversation between science and religion.

When you imagine an Australian Buddhist, who do you think of? Buddhism in this country has a multicultural history which reaches back before federation and the White Australia Policy.

Yale professors Christian Wiman and Miroslav Volf have been friends for years, through serious ups and downs. Together they discuss poetry, suffering and the divine — helping one another express the big things we encounter throughout our lives.
Guests
Miroslav Volf is a theologian and the founder and director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. He is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School. He has written or edited over twenty books, including his most recent co-authored book Glimmerings: Letters on Faith Between a Poet and a Theologian. 
Christian Wiman is a poet and the Clement-Muehl Professor of Communication Arts at Yale Divinity School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. He is also an author, editor, or translator of fourteen books, including his most recent co-authored book Glimmerings: Letters on Faith Between a Poet and a Theologian.
Read an extract of Glimmerings on ABC Religion and Ethics: ‘Glimmerings are what the soul’s composed of’: Letters between a poet and a theologian - ABC Religion & Ethics
More from Soul Search
The Zen masters of haiku - ABC listen
Poetry that soars — from Rumi to Australia - ABC listen
Big questions in books — Ancient Chinese poetry and the nature of existence - ABC listen
Vote now for your favourite Australian books of all time!
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/radionational/countdown/top100books
Toby Davidson recommends Holocaust Island, by Graeme Dixon
Emma Beattie recommends In Their Branches, by Gretchen Miller
Steve Biddulph recommends Night Train to Varanasi, by Sean Doyle

The Australian landscape comes up again and again in Australian poetry — it's part of what makes poetry from this place so distinctive. So, how does the contemporary Australian poetry scene engage with the land, and how has it shaped the art and spirituality of Australian poets?
GuestsLaurie May is a poet, a spoken word performer and a poetry educator based in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, and the Executive Director of Red Dirt Poetry.
Laurie May’s poetry recommendations are:
I am the Desert, by Marie Elena Ellis I Am The Desert by Marie Elena Ellis - Red Dirt Poetry
Home Between the Cedar Trees, by Jihad Yassine Home Between the Cedar Trees by Jihad Yassine — Guest House Publishing
Trials of Hope, by Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes Trials of Hope (የተስፋ ፈተና) - Fremantle Press
A Savage Turn, by Luke Patterson Luke Patterson debut poetry collection is utterly lawless - ABC listen
The Harbour, by Dimitris Tsaloumas The poetry of Dimitris Tsaloumas - ABC listen
Laurie’s Top100 Books recommendations are:
Seven Little Australians, by Ethel Turner
Looking for Alibrandi, by Melina Marchetta
Trials of Hope, by Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes
Mark Tredennick OAM is an Australian poet and essayist based outside of Bowral in New South Wales. He has received the Newcastle Poetry Prize, the Blake Poetry Prize, the Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize, the Calibre Essay Prize and the Wildcare Nature Writing Prize. You can read a selection of his poems and essays on his website.
Mark Tredennick’s Top 100 book recommendation is Creekwater Journal, by Robert Gray (1974)
More from Soul Search
The Zen masters of haiku - ABC listen
Poetry that soars — from Rumi to Australia - ABC listen
Big questions in books — Ancient Chinese poetry and the nature of existence - ABC listen
Vote now for your favourite Australian books of all time!
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/radionational/countdown/top100books

Haiku poetry is both simple and evocative, largely due to Zen Buddhism. The now familiar 5-7-5 haiku verse developed in ancient Japan, and now, across language and culture, haiku remains a popular way for people to engaging with nature, the seasons, and the fleeting moments of life.