There is a misconception, says Buddhist teacher Sharon Salzberg, that developing a more loving heart will make us weak. She explains how loving others — especially those with whom we have an adverse relationship — can be empowering. This clip was filmed during a conversation at JCC Manhattan with bell hooks and Lion’s Roar’s Melvin McLeod. The event was sponsored by Lion’s [...]
Why famed feminist bell hooks reads patriarchal writing
bell hooks, one of America's most influential feminists, says some writing she loves is written by patriarchal men. In this clip, she explains why she reads it anyway. This clip is part of a conversation between bell hooks and Sharon Salzberg, sponsored by Lion's Roar in partnership with the Garrison Institute and the JCC Manhattan. Read the whole [...]
Cultivating Openness When Things Fall Apart
Pema Chodron and bell hooks talk about facing life's challenges, in this 1997 conversation from the Lion's Roar archives. Initially when I enter the classroom, I share with my students that we are there to think critically—to engage the world we live in—the world of ideas, fully, deeply, with our whole heart. Pema Chödrön's work gives me this gift. Consistently she [...]
bell hooks and John Perry Barlow talk “prana in cyberspace”
From the Lion's Roar archives, a 1995 conversation between digital activist and lyricist John Perry Barlow — who died on February 7, 2018 — and social theorist bell hooks. John Perry Barlow: "On paper, you are my polar opposite [bell hooks: iconoclastic feminist, leading African-American intellectual, progressive Buddhist, self-proclaimed homebody], yet I feel none of that [...]
bell hooks tells the story of the first time she met Thich Nhat Hanh
When bell hooks met Buddhist Teacher Thich Nhat Hanh for the first time, all that could come out of her mouth were the words "I'm so angry." In this video, she shares how he responded. This conversation at the Jewish Community center in Manhattan was sponsored by Lion’s Roar in partnership with the Garrison Institute and the JCC Manhattan. Transcript bell hooks:I [...]
The Power of Real Love: A Conversation with Sharon Salzberg and bell hooks
How do we bring more love into our lives? Sharon Salzberg and bell hooks sat down with Lion's Roar's Melvin McLeod for a special discussion on love in celebration of Salzberg's new book, Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection. Photos by Christine Alicino. If love is what we need more of—and we do—then Sharon Salzberg and bell hooks are two of the most important voices [...]
Watch: What is love? bell hooks has the answer
In celebration of her new book, Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection, Buddhist teacher Sharon Salzberg joined bell hooks and Lion's Roar's Melvin McLeod for a recent conversation at JCC Manhattan. In this clip from that evening, the inimitable hooks — one of America’s leading political and cultural critics — answers the question "What is love?" The conversation was [...]
How to Be a Bodhisattva
It may seem like an unattainable ideal, but you can start right now as a bodhisattva-in-training. All you need is the aspiration to put others first and some inspiration from helpful guides like the Buddhist teachers found here. Everyone Is Your Guest Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche on your life as a future bodhisattva Many Mahayana scriptures speak of inviting all sentient [...]
The Best of bell hooks: Life, Writings, Quotes, and Books
When we drop fear, we can draw nearer to people, we can draw nearer to the earth, we can draw nearer to all the heavenly creatures that surround us. —bell hooks Writer, feminist theorist, and cultural critic bell hooks has played a vital role in twenty-first-century activism. Her expansive life's work of writing and lecturing has explored the historical function of race and [...]
Building a Community of Love: bell hooks and Thich Nhat Hanh
bell hooks meets with Thich Nhat Hanh to ask: how do we build a community of love? Thich Nhat Hanh has been a presence in my life, as a teacher and guide, for more than twenty years. In the last few years I began to doubt the heart connection I felt with him because we had never met or spoken to one another, yet his work was ever-present in my work. I began to feel the [...]
