My guest this week is someone I've known through the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous since 2006, and who has taken the 11th step ("Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God...") to a whole new level with her commitment and devotion to Buddhist teachings and practices: Mary Stancavage.

Mary Stancavage has practiced meditation, yoga, and cultivated a spiritual practice for over 35 years and in 2009 was empowered to teach Buddhadharma. She teaches classes, retreats, coaches and mentors individuals and has facilitated several Year-to-Live groups over the years. She has served as a volunteer hospital chaplain and been involved with leadership in several non-profit organizations over the years both in meditation and in the social justice arena. She is currently a member of the Guiding Teachers Council for Insight Community of the Desert, serves on the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Interfaith Task Force and is a Board Member of both Meditation Coalition and CLUE: Clergy and Laity for Economic Justice. For the last several years, Mary has investigated what it means to live with an undefended heart and more information on this can be found on her website, marystancavage.org. Fun fact: Mary has an MA from UCLA and spent several seasons working as an archaeologist in Syria.

In this episode Mary and I discuss topics such as:

- meditation for nervous system regulation
- the “year to live” practice as a powerful way to shed what’s not important and turn toward what is
- 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows in Buddhism
- election day as just one day in our lives, and cultivating present time awareness
- the importance of resourcing ourselves well
- “Right now, it’s like this.” My favorite Mary quote which just so happens to be tattooed on her arm
- you cannot win a fist fight with reality, so you might as well say hi to it
- the 11th step in alcoholics anonymous talks about seeking through prayer and meditation, and AA was a gateway for Mary to meditation practice
- the practice of “coming back” and “being with”
- The Eightfold Path: foundational Buddhist teaching
- cultivating kindness and friendliness, not only toward others, but also toward ourselves
- the value of replacing “I am” with “this is”
- living life with an underfunded heart
- “You are a part of me that I do not know yet” as a way to help us meet the polarization of our times

following

Undefended Dharma: Living with an Undefended Heart marystancavage.org

Meditation Coalition
Insight Community of the Desert
Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice
LA District Attorney Interfaith Advisory Board

morning
which