Ministry of Change

In this short episode I tell an autobiographical story about depression and a cat called Doris. 

As humans we like to share stories, and when it comes to mental health and wellbeing being able to share our stories is so valuable. When we can discover the gift in seemingly negative experiences (trust me, there is always a gift buried in there somewhere) and share our story it becomes a powerful healing tool, not only for us as the storyteller but also for those listening. It stops being our own story and reenters the sea of human experience. It helps people to feel less alone in their experience and to realise that we all experience life in a different way. 

I hope you enjoy the story...

In this episode I chatted with Liz Slade - the Chief Officer of the Unitarian Churches in the UK - about different interpretations of spirituality, being supported to find our own way in the world and the power of mixing with people with different beliefs to your own.

This episode features a conversation I had with Ani Lhamo, who has been a Tibetan Buddhist nun for over 30 years and who is also the secretary of Lama Yeshe the abbot of the Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in Scotland (featured in the previous episode - I'd recommend listening to that one first if you haven't already). We talk about Ani Lhamo's path from Glaswegian Computer Programmer to Tibetan Buddhist Nun, the importance of training the mind and the importance of the down as well as the up parts of life. 

For this episode I traveled up to Scotland to meet Lama Yeshe, the head abbot of the Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Monastery to talk to him about the role of Buddhism and spirituality in connection with mental health, environmental and social change. 

In my on going exploration into how we can navigate the difficult bits of life and what it means to be human, I have been searching out people who have dedicated their lives to answering these questions through walking a spiritual path. This episode is a conversation I had recently at the Hare Krishna Bhaktivedanta Temple with Krishna Devotee Radha Mohan Das.