How Compassion Gives Us the Stability to Take Wise Action

Point of View Podcast Episode 5: A conversation with Frank Ostaseski about finding the inner resources to meet the impossible in extraordinary ways.

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  Point of View Podcast
How Compassion Gives Us the Stability to Take Wise Action 51:22

Barry: Hello everyone. I’m Barry Boyce, editor-in-chief of Mindful Magazine and Mindful.org and this is the Point of View podcast. We’re here today with my very good friend Frank Ostaseski who in 1987 co-founded Zen Hospice in San Francisco and then in 2005 co-founded Metta Institute. And he’s just come out with a book detailing his work with people who are dying. It’s called The Five Invitations, Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully. And Frank is here today to talk about what he’s learned from his work. And I’d like to start out, Frank, by asking you how you got started in this work.

Frank: You know, I think it was a long and winding road it got me here, and, probably the truth is, we get called for this work. You know, it’s not something we choose on our high school skill set exam. My own mother died when I was quite young, about 16, and my dad a few years later.…