Becoming Wise is an inquiry into the mystery and art of living. Peabody Award-winning journalist Krista Tippett engages wise lives of our day — from Brian Greene and Jon Kabat-Zinn to Brené Brown and Maria Popova. A companion to the New York Times bestselling book from Penguin Press. On Being Studios is the producer of On Being, Becoming Wise, Creating Our Own Lives, and more to come.
"His capability to ask the 'What if?' question opened the door to the deepest marker of humanity, and that's empathy." Physicist S. James Gates celebrates the scientific and social power of Albert Einstein's imagination. Find more at onbeing.org/becoming-wise.
"Trauma treatment starts at the foundation of a body that can sleep, a body that can rest, a body that feels safe, a body that can move." Psychiatrist Bessel Van Der Kolk on finding resilience in our bodies after trauma. Find more at onbeing.org/becoming-wise.
"When words bring you closer to the prisoner in his cell, to the patient who is dying on his bed alone, to the starving child, then it's a prayer." Elie Wiesel, the beloved writer known for his memoir of the Holocaust, "Night," speaks of the power of prayer and forgiveness in the wake of profound suffering. Find more at onbeing.org/becoming-wise.
"I discovered that you have to have this sense of faith that what you're moving toward is already done." Civil rights leader John Lewis on living as if the "beloved community" were already our reality. Find more at onbeing.org/becoming-wise.
"If you're sure about something, you don't need faith. It's when you have the doubts that faith kicks in. And that's true in science as well as anything else." Vatican astronomers Brother Guy Consolmagno and Father George Coyne on the joy of discovery and delighting in what we don't know. Find more at onbeing.org/becoming-wise.
"How in our daily lives are we connecting with ourselves and everything around us? Because that’s where real, energetic transformation comes from." Feminist playwright Eve Ensler speaks of the affirming physicality of our bodies, and of finding true contentment in the lives we already lead. Find more at onbeing.org/becoming-wise.
"There's something magnetic about a group of people that say, 'Hey, we don't have it all figured out, and we need each other.'" New Monastic and Simple Way founder Shane Claiborne on bridging the gap between the structures we are raised in and the human needs around us. Find more at onbeing.org/becoming-wise.
"The challenge of our future is to say, are we going to connect and amplify positive tribes that want to make things better for all of us?" Entrepreneur and digital wise man Seth Godin on our capacity to use connection to elevate and advance the human spirit. Find more at onbeing.org/becoming-wise.
"Sometimes the pain of the world seems incomprehensible. And if there's anything that balances it, it's wonder at the world, the amazingness of people." Mindfulness meditation teacher Sylvia Boorstein gives counsel on finding joy and spiritual practice embedded in the rhythms of everyday life. Find more at onbeing.org/becoming-wise.
"You've got to be willing to risk in order to make change. You've got to approach differences with the notion that there is good in the other." Scholar and activist Frances Kissling speaks of good will and understanding, rather than agreement or victory, as bridges between difference. Find more at onbeing.org/becoming-wise.