David Suzuki & Thich Nhat Hanh: Despair

http://hoggan.com/

David Suzuki, Zen Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, and David Suzuki Foundation Chair Jim Hoggan in conversation about mindfulness, climate change and how to bring about the collective public awakening needed to restore health to the planet.

In this video, Thich Nhat Hanh and David Suzuki discuss the challenges faced in protecting the environment and the importance of not letting despair cloud our ability to affect change.

For more information about David Suzuki please visit - http://davidsuzuki.org/#
For more information about Thich Nhat Hanh please visit - http://www.plumvillage.org/

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  News & Politics

[snapclacktic]

Loved this was really curious what he would say on this issue I think he hit the nail on the head, in facing this problem we are being asked to face our own impermanence and many of us are not prepared to deal with this and are very attached to our lives and our ways, our roads, our ice creams our smartphones, accepting that this way may not last puts some of us into denial about the problems existence and some of us coopt others into the same doubts to validate ourselves and alleviate our fears

[colloredbrothers]

3:36 wow what a beautiful woman on the right!

[dhead64]

BWAAHHAHAHAHA! I had to look!

[Mwayra6]

The smiley one with the hat on to the left?

[Boonfield]

Yes, maybe just different words for the same thing. But there can be a big difference between anger and anger, as you can either kill with it or use it creative. My point is that as long as we are humble with our true feelings we can function optimal in making important human changes. And a clean despair is a sign of that :)

[thofou76]

Yeah, I understand what you mean, like Erich Fromm said: "The most normal are the sickest - and the sick are the healthiest."

But regarding motivation for change: I think that you mistake despair for anger and frustration. But maybe we're just discussing semantics here... ;-)

[Boonfield]

On the contrary as I see it. When you feel no despair you are normally not motivated for changes. Despair is a normal human condition for a healthy person in this sick world and if you deny that you turn into something abnormal. And the abnormal can never save the abnormal.

[thofou76]

A crisis can get you out of your comfort zone and enable you to make a change. But that requires that you overcome despair, because despair is paralyzing.

[Boonfield]

Despair IS reality! And all important changes in life always happens in despair.

[KennyReddwooddforest]

That is very true. And there is another factor playing into this which is religion. I would say that all global warming deniers are Christians. This is a serious problem. How do we solve this problem? How do we reverse this horrendous peer pressure, corporate propaganda, and right wing identification?

[warwize]

not really a good question for a monk...

if a comet is heading towards earth you don't ask a monk or a philosopher what to do, you ask engineers :P

but when greed and despair are heading towards earth, then you ask the monks and philosophers :]