By Daniel Blake
As an organization dedicated to alleviating poverty through partnering with a diverse range of projects around the world, an important part of Buddhist Global Relief’s mission is to educate the public about our work using the tools of culture and media. To this end, BGR is proud to introduce the Helping Hands Podcast, where listeners can hear directly from project partners, advisors, spiritual friends, and other prominent Buddhist teachers who share in our vision for a world free from poverty and the needless suffering brought about by hunger and malnutrition. The podcast also engages with socially conscious artists and culture workers who support BGR, and who play a role in expanding our notion of engaged Buddhism. It is our hope that the Helping Hands podcast can be of benefit not only to Buddhist practitioners, but to anyone who recognizes the need for compassion in action in a world that is more interconnected than ever before.
In the first podcast episode, “No Such Thing as Disengaged Buddhism,” Hozan Alan Senauke, Abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center, joins us to discuss the meaning of engaged Buddhism and what Hozan Roshi calls “appropriate response” in today’s polarized society. In the second episode, “Compassion Is Like a Muscle,” we speak with Ven. Ayya Yeshe, an Australian bhikkhuni in the Tibetan tradition and the founder of the BGR partner organization Bodhicitta Foundation, a grassroots Buddhist organization empowering people in some of the world’s poorest and most oppressed communities. Ayya Yeshe gives guidance on what each of us can do to break the cycle of being what she calls “samsaraholics” and become free of self-grasping; we also speak about white supremacy, the necessity to recognize its roots, its omnipresent effects, and how to begin healing.
Please consider subscribing to the Helping Hands Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts, or listen in the player below.
To learn more about the podcast or to find individual episodes, please visit the Helping Hands Podcast page on our website.
Dan Blake has served on the board of directors of Buddhist Global Relief since 2015, and has practiced Vipassana meditation since 2005. Before starting the Helping Hands Podcast, Dan produced the Concert To Feed The Hungry, through which world renowned artists and audiences across many musical genres came together to support the work of BGR. A professional jazz saxophonist and composer who performs throughout the New York area and internationally, Dan Blake holds a Ph.D. in composition from the City University of New York, and currently teaches courses at the New School for Social Research.
