Asking for Help (Episode #115)

Jo Confino (0:00)

Dear friends, welcome to this latest episode of the podcast series The Way Out Is In. I'm Jo Confino, a spiritual mentor and leadership coach.

Brother Phap Huu (0:27)

And I'm Brother Phap Huu, a Zen Buddhist monk, student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in the Plum Village tradition.

Jo Confino (0:33)

And today, dear listeners, we are going to be asking a very simple question. Why is it so difficult to ask for help?

Hello everyone, I'm Jo Confino.

Brother Phap Huu (1:05)

And I am Brother Phap Huu.

Jo Confino (1:07)

And brother, we are not in Thich Nhat Hanh's small, sitting still hut today. We have decamped to the house of myself and Paz, where it is cooler because this is the fifth heat wave of this summer.

It's more, it's about 40 degrees outside right this moment. And in Thich Nhat Hanh's hut, which is made of wood and is very low ceiling, we probably would have burnt to death.

Brother Phap Huu (1:35)

It would have been a sauna experience.

Jo Confino (1:38)

That would be novel, wouldn't it, doing a recording in the sauna.

So brother, as I said, this is the fifth heat wave. It's everything is sort of dried out outside. Our pond just outside dried up a month ago. A lot of the trees are dying. A lot of the plants are struggling. A lot of humans are struggling. We're in a very rural area and we see a lot of fields have burnt, all the corn, the sunflower seeds, the local farmers, the vineyards, the grapes have been too hot. So the wine harvest is not going to be successful this year.

How does it feel to be living through this time?

Brother Phap Huu (2:26)

Well, it's sad to see the state that we're in with all the scientists and all of the activists for years have been talking about the awareness of the impact of the way we live life, the drilling of the earth for the oil and the CO2 emissions that is just out of control because of humans' greed and our lack of agency in the systems right now. It's not individual. I trust that individual humans, for all of us, we are...

If we had the power to change, we would have, but the structure of our society that we rely on, unfortunately, it has been built in a way that money and power and greed takes control. And it's a pivotal moment in our collective human consciousness and being where we have to work together, meditate together, and suffer together in order to move the needle of the shift and of the change. So it's painful to be aware of what's happening because I'm meditating on more of the beyond the human realms, like of the insects, of all of the plants, of all of the flowers, of all of the ecosystems that is around and just being aware that there are thousands of insects that are going into extinct and then forests that have been caught by the wildfires. And it's just a moment of embracing grief and being present with some of the anger that also arises as well as still be grounded in the present moment because our teacher has a calligraphy and as a mantra, because we are alive, everything is possible also to not lose oneself in despair.

And we are in the midst of the wake up retreat. We have about 800 young people with us in the monastery and bless them for going through the heat wave together because our monasteries, all of our big event centers, buildings, we don't have AC. And the goodness of the dharma and the activities is still powerful enough that everybody is still very present, but we are collectively sweating together and finding shade. And it's also allowing us to be slower because of the heat wave. So everybody is more present with the body because your body is coping with the heat. And it seems like the Hamlet is slower and calmer and quieter. So there could be a positive there when I'm just reflecting, walking the monastery today and then just coming here for the podcast because tonight is lazy evening. Normally there would be sport going on, music, games, but everybody is just finding refuge right now.

Jo Confino (5:45)

Mm, thank you, brother. And one of the things I find very helpful is just to really experience this in proximity. You know, we spent many decades trying to warn people of these dangers, and it hasn't been at their doorstep. And unfortunately, as humans, it's only when we experience something that we tend to recognize it's really happening. And just outside the door where we're sitting is a beautiful pond that dried up about a month ago. And that pond is... I often sit next to the pond. It's a very beautiful spot for me. It's filled normally with life. It's got dragonflies and fish and newts and frogs and wild fowl nesting there. And I sit there early in the morning with a cup of tea and just watch all this vivid life. And now it's completely dried for a month. It's just no life there at all. And so it's very important sometimes to see in the microcosm, the macrocosm, because in that one pond, it's like a whole ecosystem on its own. There's so much life in there and other life that comes to benefit from it. And then to see it gone is very painful.