On activating compassion through our simplest offerings of forgiveness, care, gratitude and respect.

• (0:30) - Japanese rituals for beauty, harmony, and love.
• (10:00) - Cleaning and its connection to healing and mindfulness.
• (16:36) - Organizing and decluttering, with a focus on the importance of forgiveness and creating more space in life.
• (24:49) - Healing, self-care, and relationships.
• (31:48) - Buddhist teachings, suffering, and healing through interconnectedness and self-reflection.

Paula Ara was raised in Detroit by a Japanese mother, and did Zen training in Japan. She obtained her Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from Harvard University in 1993 and is now the Eshinni & Kakushinni Professor of Women and Buddhist Studies at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California. She is the author of Bringing Zen Home: The Healing Heart of Japanese Women’s Rituals, Women Living Zen: Japanese Soto Buddhist Nuns, and Painting Enlightenment: Healing Visions of the Heart Sutra. Her work has been a tremendous force in my own spiritual formation.