Zenshin Florence Caplow: On Courage and Practice

“It takes so much courage to meet our suffering, to meet our life, raw and unadorned.” In this captivating talk, Zenshin Florence Caplow draws on stories and teachings from encounters with wild animals, from ancient women practitioners of the Way, Dogen, Rainer Maria Rilke, and others about courage and compassion amidst fear. She reminds us that our practice of living as patch-robed monks takes courage and that it is actually a “radical response” to an often “pretty scary world.” And just as the Buddha offered metta practice to his disciples who went into the forest and were scared, we can offer ourselves compassion when we are scared. Because “the world needs people who will not run away.”