Finding Balance to Engage More Fully with Margaret Cullen
5/20/20261 hr 2 min
Equanimity can often be mistaken for passivity or indifference. But meditation teacher Margaret Cullen insists that it is actually about feeling the entire range of human experience—and, in the process, responding from a place of love and discernment. Cullen is a licensed psychotherapist and mindfulness-based stress reduction instructor, and she has taught mindfulness and contemplative practices around the world. In her new book, Quiet Strength: Find Peace, Feel Alive, and Love Boundlessly Through the Power of Equanimity, she explores how equanimity can help us respond to the challenges of our times with greater curiosity and compassion. In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Cullen to discuss the difference between equanimity and indifference, why equanimity is an expression of love, and how equanimity can help us engage more fully with the world rather than withdraw from it. Plus, Cullen leads a guided meditation.
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First 90 secondsMargaret Cullen· Guest0:00
[gentle music] Those moments of actually being able to relax into uncertainty and the truth of the moment, there's a joy that comes from not fighting reality and being connected to the truth, and feeling like you can take your place in the natural world, equally deserving of life and love and flourishing as all other beings, is a kind of freedom.
James Shaheen· Host0:38
[upbeat music] Hello, I'm James Shaheen, and this is Life As It Is. I'm here with my co-host, Sharon Salzberg, and you just heard Margaret Cullen. Margaret is a licensed psychotherapist and mindfulness-based stress reduction instructor, and she has taught mindfulness and contemplative practices around the world. In her new book, Quiet Strength: Find Peace, Feel Alive, and Love Boundlessly Through the Power of Equanimity, she explores how equanimity can help us respond to the challenges of our times with greater curiosity and compassion. In our conversation with Margaret, we talk about the difference between equanimity and indifference, why equanimity is an expression of love, and how equanimity can help us engage more fully with the world rather than withdraw from it. Plus, Margaret leads us in a guided meditation. So here's