When we have disorderly lives, it makes it difficult for our minds to be orderly and for us to be at ease with disorder. Joan Halifax More Quotes by Joan Halifax More Quotes From Joan Halifax If compassion is so good for us, why don't we train our health care providers in compassion so that they can do what they're supposed to do, which is to transform suffering? Joan Halifax health motivation inspiration Compassion has enemies, and those enemies are things like pity, moral outrage, fear. Joan Halifax motivation compassion inspiration For me, Buddhism is a psychology and a philosophy that provides a means, upayas, for working with the mind. Joan Halifax buddhism philosophy mean Since we are already Buddhas, happy and suffering Buddhas, wise and confused Buddhas, we are already Buddha. Joan Halifax confused suffering wise I believe that women and girls today have to partner in a powerful way with men - with their fathers, with their sons, with their brothers, with the plumbers, the road builders, the caregivers, the doctors, the lawyers, with our president and with all beings. Joan Halifax motivation girl brother I am always cautious about naming the known, as we often forget to hold in regard those whose names will never be known to anyone outside of their close circle. Joan Halifax circles names forget [I'm inspired by ] courageous young people who take a stand and go into the field to serve; really old people who see that every minute of life is to be lived fully and compassionately; and so many between this world and that world. Joan Halifax fields people world I met Kaz in the mid 1980s when we invited him and other artists to the Ojai Foundation with Thich Nhat Hanh. I felt an instant connection with him, and since that time we have collaborated on many projects and have become good friends and allies in the work of nonviolence. Joan Halifax foundation good-friend artist When I first was exposed to Buddhism in the mid-1960s, I said it was so practical and utterly pragmatic. That's what attracted me to Buddhism. Joan Halifax buddhism said firsts I've worked in the prison system, on death row and maximum security. I did that work for six years. I've worked with some of the most difficult people in our society. Buddhism was accessible and helpful for these individuals. Joan Halifax buddhism people years Kaz came to Switzerland where I was teaching to share with me [Heart Sutra] wondrous insight. There he and I worked on this new translation - with my part being to help render it into a verse form that would be good to chant. Since I have worked with many dying people over the years and often share the Heart Sutra with them, I found this new version that we created together to be so much more accessible to those who were facing death. Joan Halifax teaching heart years Whether or not enlightenment is possible at the moment of death, the practices that prepare one for this possibility also bring one closer to the bone of life. Joan Halifax bones enlightenment practice My work has been in the field of engaged Buddhism. That is my own practice, which began in 1965 that formed the base for the work I was doing in the civil rights and anti-war movement. Joan Halifax buddhism rights war There is the in-breath and there is the out-breath, and too often we feel like we have to exhale all the time. The inhale is absolutely essential - and then you can exhale. Joan Halifax breaths essentials feels I remember having a discussion with [Kaz] about his translation of the word shunyata as "boundlessness," instead of the more traditional "emptiness." I said: "Kaz, everyone is used to the word emptiness for shunyata. This might not sit well with people. He said: "Translator's prerogative!" Then he added, "One cannot assume we know what they meant...." I agreed. Joan Halifax emptiness might people My test for veracity has always been: How this will settle with a person who is dying? Boundlessness seemed to me to open the door to the true nature of mind that is pointed to in the Heart Sutra. Joan Halifax mind heart doors Kaz's wilder work captures the great beauty of the human heart and the natural world. Joan Halifax natural heart world [Kaz] is a great scholar, very funny - a true man of no rank! Joan Halifax true-man scholar men How about Burma, Somalia, Afghanistan, Libya, our streets, our neighborhoods, our own minds. We don't have to look far - and we should look far as well. Joan Halifax libya mind looks All are interconnected...the environment; rights of the dying; care of caregivers; education and medical care for peoples of the Himalayas; prison work; those living on the margins of society, particularly kids. Joan Halifax dying rights kids
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