Bill Moyers sits down with Buddhist nun Pema Chodron in this episode of his show Faith and Reason. Moyers introduces Buddhism and how it came to be more popular in the West through figures like the Dalai Lama. Pema Chodron has also become a popular figure in Tibetan Buddhism in the United States through her bestselling books like When Things Fall Apart and The Places that Scare You.
In this interview, she starts out by trying to define the Buddhist idea of suffering. Where physical and emotional pain are unavoidable, the suffering that often follows them can be lessened by working with your own mind. Chodron also speaks of groundlessness, which is a state that frequently comes up in life and that spiritual awakening is often spurred on by. She talks about her own life and the divorce she went through that sent her on years of spiritual searching and eventually led her to Tibetan Buddhism. Chodron talks about her own relationship with the Buddha and how it relates to faith. She affirms her belief in the basic goodness of humanity and its ability to reduce aggression and increase lovingkindness.