Author and teacher Oneika Mays joins Sharon for episode 291 of the Metta Hour podcast. 

For over a decade, Oneika has brought yoga and mindfulness practices to people who have felt left out, judged, and alone— from correctional facilities to retreat centers, from Columbia Law School to Lincoln Center. She is the author of “Sit With Me: A No-BS Journey to Mindfulness and Meditation,” released by HarperOne in March of  2026, and the co-host of You Good? Podcast with Pamela Stokes Eggleston. This is her first appearance on the Metta Hour Podcast.

In this conversation, Oneika and Sharon speak about:

• How Oneika’s spiritual journey began

• Training with teacher, Kimberly Brown

• Metta’s impact on Oneika’s existing practice

• The challenges of metta for the neutral person

• Working at Riker’s Island Correctional Facility (give this context in intro)

• Oneika’s new book, “Sit With Me”

• The importance of forgiveness

• What inspired Oneika’s new book

• Loving people doesn’t necessarily mean liking them

• Lovingkindness for oneself as a starting point

• Working with the difficult person

• The gift of grieving what’s broken

• Navigating life within harmful systems

• Teaching lovingkindness in prison

• The NY Knicks and Collective Effervescence

Additional Resources

The episode closes with a guided lovingkindness meditation from Oneika with added visualization. You can learn more about Oneika’s work right here and get a copy of her new book, “Sit With Me,” right here.

Related Metta Hour Episodes

Episode 212: Kimberly Brown’s interview as part of our Mental Health Series released in 2023.

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Sharon comes together with Mark Epstein to remember the life of dear friend and colleague, Robert AF Thurman, for episode 290 of the Metta Hour. 

Robert AF Thurman (August 3, 1941 – June 16, 2026) was an American Buddhist author and academic who wrote, edited, and translated books on Tibet, Buddhism, art, politics, and culture. He was the first Westerner to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and was the Je Tsongkhapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University before retiring in 2019. He was the co-founder and president of Tibet House US in New York, New York, and Menla Retreat in Phoenicia, New York. 

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, there is a 49-day period of mourning after an individual dies, which is considered a transitional “bardo” time. This is a time to honor the individual and support them as they transition into their incarnation through ceremonies, offerings, and prayers. In that spirit, Sharon and Mark Epstein come together to share stories and reflections about Bob after his unexpected death. 

Mark Epstein, M.D., a psychiatrist in private practice in New York City, is the author of a number of books about the interface of Buddhism and psychotherapy, including “Thoughts without a Thinker” and “Going to Pieces without Falling Apart.” His latest work, “The Zen of Therapy,” was published in 2022 by Penguin Press. He has been a student of Vipassana meditation since 1974.

This episode also includes an excerpt of an archival recording of Sharon interviewing Bob from 2021. Originally aired on the Metta Hour in celebration of Bob’s book “Wisdom is Bliss,” this recording includes some classic zesty-Bob-banter with Sharon, as well as some wonderful teachings. The recording closes with Bob leading a guided meditation.

"When we opened the Insight Meditation Society in 1976, we discovered we had a near neighbor, about 40 minutes away in Amherst, MA: Professor Bob Thurman. I’ve felt so lucky to know him as a friend, to have the chance to teach with him through the years, and to collaborate with him on a book, “Love Your Enemies.” Though he was widely known as a dedicated scholar, I was always most struck by Bob as a person of faith in the best sense of the word— faith in each of our potential, in the very real possibility of freedom, in the blessings of lineage and the enormous gifts of people like HH Dalai Lama to the world. Before the sudden, unexpected news of his passing, I noted how much content he was putting on his Substack, what seemed to me almost like a drive to help as many people as he could, to remind us all of hope in these very troubled times. His impact on so many people and the light he spread is so clear right now." - Sharon

Please join us as we celebrate and honor a dear friend and dharma teacher who filled our lives with such joy, wisdom, and laughter.

Additional Resources

Learn more about Robert AF Thurman’s life and work right here. Read some of the tributes for Bob right here and via Tricycle Magazine. Tune in to the weekly prayers for via the website for Tibet House US right here. Learn more about the book Bob and Sharon co-wrote, “Love Your Enemies” originally released in 2013 with a tenth anniversary edition release in 2023 in hardcover and ebook formats.

Related Metta Hour Episodes

Episode 107 Robert Thurman and Mark Epstein recorded live at Tibet House in 2018, released in the Metta Hour in 2019.

Episode 164 Robert Thurman interview on the Metta Hour (partially included in today’s episode), released in 2021.

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The Buddha taught a path of awakened living, but how does that manifest in today’s world of constant connectivity and widespread suffering? 

How do we keep our hearts open without being defined or hardened by the pain that surrounds us, whether personal, collective, or historical? How do we navigate the paradox of holding both pain and joy, without mistaking suffering for punishment or personal failure? Can we infuse our compassion with wisdom and perspective to find the agency to take meaningful action in our communities? In her new series, Engaged Compassion, Sharon delves into these questions and more, engaging in candid conversations with a diverse group of teachers, activists, and changemakers. 

For the seventh episode in the series, Sharon’s speaks with teacher Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, marking his first appearance on the Metta Hour.

Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, PhD, is the cofounder and director of the Emory-Tibet Partnership, a multi-dimensional initiative founded in 1998 to bring together the foremost contributions of the Western scholastic tradition and the Tibetan Buddhist sciences of mind and healing. He is also professor of practice in Emory University’s Department of Religion. In 2018, he launched, with the Dalai Lama, SEE Learning, a free compassion curriculum for children. Geshe Lobsang, a former monk, was born in Kinnaur, a small Himalayan kingdom adjoining Tibet. He began his monastic training at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics and continued his education at Drepung Loseling Monastery in south India, where he received his Geshe Lharampa degree in 1994, the highest academic degree granted in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

In this conversation, Geshe and Sharon speak about:

• How Geshe grew up in the Himalayas 

• Becoming a monk at age 14 in 1974

• Geshe and Sharon’s first meeting 

• Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics

• Cognitively Based Compassion Training 

• What neuroscience says about compassion

• Tania Singer’s research work

• Richie Davidson’s discovery with neuroplasticity

• The inner qualities that are actually skills

• Putting compassion into real action

• How discernment must guide compassion

• Story of the starfish on the beach

• How small acts of kindness affect others

• Developing the inner disposition for kindness

• Is compassion fatigue actually compassion?

• The natural reciprocity of compassion 

• “Compassionomics” by Stephen Trzeciak

• Why self-compassion is a struggle

• Accepting the human condition

• Drepung Loseling Monastery

• H.H. Dalai Lama’s SEE Learning Program

Additional Resources

Geshe Lobsang closes out the conversation with a guided gratitude practice from his book, Engaged Compassion. Learn more about Geshe Lobsang’s work right here. Get a copy of his new book right here and explore the SEE Learning Program right here.

Help us celebrate 10 years of Be Here Now Network and support the next chapter of Ram Dass Here and Now. Gifts are matched dollar for dollar through June 30. Learn more and give at https://beherenownetwork.com/10years.

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The Buddha taught a path of awakened living, but how does that manifest in today’s world of constant connectivity and widespread suffering?

How do we keep our hearts open without being defined or hardened by the pain that surrounds us, whether personal, collective, or historical? How do we navigate the paradox of holding both pain and joy without mistaking suffering for punishment or personal failure? Can we infuse our compassion with wisdom and perspective to find the agency to take meaningful action in our communities? In her new series, Engaged Compassion, Sharon delves into these questions and more, engaging in candid conversations with a diverse group of teachers, activists, and changemakers. 

For the sixth episode in the series, Sharon’s speaks with teacher and change-maker Reggie Hubbard, marking his third appearance on the Metta Hour. Reggie is an internationally recognized yoga and meditation teacher and the founder and chief serving officer of Active Peace Yoga. Reggie's yoga and meditation practice have served as a sanctuary of peace and perspective while navigating the stresses of being a Black man in the world. He has been a featured speaker on new consciousness, racial justice, and civic engagement for leading wellness publications. In addition, Reggie has held many senior strategic and logistical roles across a variety of fields, ranging from global marketing to Presidential campaigning. His life's work sits at the intersection of bringing more peace and balance to activists, guiding the wellness community toward being more engaged, concerned citizens, and enhancing the well-being of all walks of life.

In this conversation, Reggie and Sharon speak about:

• Democracy as call and response

• Re-imagining our current circumstance

• What Reggie learned from his stroke

• The ability to hope is crucial

• Wisdom from Joanna Macy 

• External circumstance is not the end of the story

• How spiritual life informs activism

• There is no harvest without planting seeds

• Reggie’s healing retreats for Men of Color

• The challenges men face from patriarchy 

• Tending and mending grief

• The importance of not-being-okay

• Compassion versus the rising tides of hatred

• “Love’s in need of love today” - Stevie Wonder

• Why extend goodwill to those who harm us?

• Compassion doesn’t dictate certain actions

• Impermanence as a hope in dark times

• What sphere of influence can you impact?

• Joy as a radical act of self-care

• There must be dancing in the revolution

• Finding peace amidst extreme challenges

Additional Resources

To close out the episode, Reggie leads a gratitude and sound meditation. You can learn more about Reggie’s work right here.

Help the Be Here Now Network celebrate 10 years of podcasting and support the next chapter of Ram Dass Here and Now. Gifts are matched dollar for dollar through June 30. Learn more and give at: BHNN 10th Birthday Fundraiser

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The Buddha taught a path of awakened living, but how does that manifest in today’s world of constant connectivity and widespread suffering? 

How do we keep our hearts open without being defined or hardened by the pain that surrounds us, whether personal, collective, or historical? How do we navigate the paradox of holding both pain and joy, without mistaking suffering for punishment or personal failure? Can we infuse our compassion with wisdom and perspective to find the agency to take meaningful action in our communities? In her new series, Engaged Compassion, Sharon delves into these questions and more, engaging in candid conversations with a diverse group of teachers, activists, and changemakers. 

For the fifth episode in the series, Sharon speaks with Mirabai Bush, marking her third appearance on the Metta Hour. Mirabai is an author, social entrepreneur, teacher, and spiritual leader. She is recognized for her pioneering role in integrating mindfulness and contemplative practices into secular sectors of American life, including business, higher education, law, and social activism. Mirabai’s contributions include co-founding influential organizations such as the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society and the Seva Foundation and co-developing Google's Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute. She is also a longtime board member of the Love Serve Remember Foundation. Her latest book, Almost Home, is a memoir published in 2025.

Please note this conversation contains discussion of gun violence during and civil unrest at Kent State University in 1970.

https://youtu.be/ywY6HGunefw

In this conversation, Mirabai and Sharon speak about:

• The process of writing a memoir
• Why Mirabai went to the East
• What drew Mirabai to activism 
• Meeting Ram Dass and Neem Karoli Baba
• Mirabai in the civil rights movement
• Sustaining engagement over time
• Non-attachment alongside passion
• Loving Awareness as taught by Ram Dass
• How acceptance leads to change-making
• The role of hope in activism
• Revolution is bread and roses
• Seva Foundation’s roots
• Mirabai’s advice for social engagement
• Staying informed in a balanced way
• How communities respond to compassion action
• The Lovingkindness Nun in Burma

Additional Resources

To close out the episode, Mirabai leads a “Just Like Me” meditation. Learn more about Mirabai’s work right here. Her most recent book, Almost Home, is available right here. You can listen to Mirabai’s previous episodes on the Metta Hour here and here.

Related Metta Hour Episodes

Episode 94 Ram Dass and Mirabai Bush on the Metta Hour, released in 2019.

Episode 114 Remembering Ram Dass with Mirabai Bush and Raghu Markus on the Metta Hour, released in 2020.

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The Buddha taught a path of awakened living, but how does that manifest in today’s world of constant connectivity and widespread suffering? 

How do we keep our hearts open without being defined or hardened by the pain that surrounds us, whether personal, collective, or historical? How do we navigate the paradox of holding both pain and joy, without mistaking suffering for punishment or personal failure? Can we infuse our compassion with wisdom and perspective to find the agency to take meaningful action in our communities?

In her new series, Engaged Compassion, Sharon delves into these questions and more, engaging in candid conversations with a diverse group of teachers, activists, and changemakers. For the fourth episode in the series, Sharon speaks with Parker J. Palmer and Jerry Colonna.  

Parker J. Palmer is a writer, speaker and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He is founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal. Parker holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, as well as fourteen honorary doctorates, two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the National Educational Press Association, and an Award of Excellence from the Associated Church Press. Parker is the author of ten books—including several award-winning titles—that have sold nearly two million copies and been translated into ten languages, including “On the Brink of Everything,” “Healing the Heart of Democracy,” and “The Promise of Paradox.”

Jerry Colonna is a renowned coach, writer, and speaker who specializes in leadership, business, and the practice of radical self-inquiry. He is the Co-founder and CEO of Reboot.io, a company inspired by the belief that work need not destroy us. He is also the author of two books: "Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up" (2019) and "Reunion: Leadership and the Longing to Belong" (2023). For more than two decades, Jerry has championed the idea that work should be non-violent to the self, the community, and the planet. 

In this conversation, Sharon, Parker and Jerry speak about:

• Parker’s approach to suffering
• Responsibility is the ability to respond
• John Rogers’ forms of suffering in the world
• The pain of denying that which is true
• Why humans are drawn to “othering”
• The innate desire to grow
• What it means to lead a fuller life
• Looking for happiness in the wrong places
• Deconditioning a control mindset
• Is the world actually worse right now?
• How to face our fears
• How to reverse othering
• We need stories about overcoming fear 
• It helps to do hard things together 
• Revamping institutions to support 
• Getting involved in your local community

Additional Resources

You can learn more about Parker’s work right here and check out his Substack right here. You can learn more about Jerry’s work and his organization, Reboot.io, right here. This episode is also being released on the Reboot Podcast, available right here. 

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The Buddha taught a path of awakened living, but how does that manifest in today’s world of constant connectivity and widespread suffering? How do we keep our hearts open without being defined or hardened by the pain that surrounds us, whether personal, collective, or historical? How do we navigate the paradox of holding both pain and joy, without mistaking suffering for punishment or personal failure? Can we infuse our compassion with wisdom and perspective to find the agency to take meaningful action in our communities? In her new series, Engaged Compassion, Sharon delves into these questions and more, engaging in candid conversations with a diverse group of teachers, activists, and changemakers. 

For the third episode in the series, Sharon speaks with Anu Gupta, marking his fourth appearance on the Metta Hour. Anu Gupta is an educator, lawyer, scientist, and the founder and CEO of Be More with Anu. His work has reached 300+ organizations, trained more than 80,000 professionals, and impacted over 30 million lives. As a gay immigrant of color, Anu came to the work of breaking bias due to lifelong experiences with racism, homophobia, and Islamophobia. He is a trained meditation and yoga teacher with over 10,000 hours of meditation practice and has a JD from NYU Law and BA in International Relations and Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies. As a peer-reviewed author, Anu has written and spoken extensively, including on the TED stage, the Oprah Conversation, Fast Company, and Newsweek. His first book, “Breaking Bias” came out in 2024 from Hay House and he currently shares his writings via his Substack, Soul Force for the 21st Century.

In this conversation, Sharon and Anu speak about:

• How to cultivate goodwill
• Bearing witness to suffering
• Working with anger and delusion
• Teachings from the Bhagavad Gita
• Compassion’s near and far enemies
• Non-attachment in activism
• Joseph Goldstein’s essential teachings
• Equanimity in practice
• Combining the spiritual, personal, and political 
• Collective consciousness as an ocean
• Wisdom from Margaret Mead, Gandhi, and MLK Jr.
• Boundaries around media
• Buddha’s five remedies for anger
• The lifelines of Sangha (community) 

Additional Resources

To close out the episode, Anu leads a guided meditation. You can learn more about Anu’s work right here and check out his Substack writings right here. 

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For episode 284, devon and nico hase return to the Metta Hour to speak with Sharon about their new book, This Messy, Gorgeous Love: A Buddhist Guide to Lasting Partnership. 

devon and nico serve as guiding teachers of the online dharma community Refuge of Belonging. They teach at the Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock, and other centers, offer online and in-person retreats, and speak with students in one-on-one sessions. Their first book How Not to Be a Hot Mess, came out in 2020 and their 2026 release, This Messy, Gorgeous Love, is now available in paperback and audiobook formats. This is devon and nico’s second appearance on the Metta Hour.

In this conversation, devon, nico and Sharon speak about:

• The motivation for the new book
• After the “happily ever after”
• Approaching relationship as practice
• The healing of deep listening 
• Common myths of relationships
• Buddhist personality types
• Dukkha (suffering) in a relationship
• Impermanence informing connection
• Forgiveness practice
• Different conflict styles
• Learning how to repair after rupture
• Making room for play and joy
• Supporting each other’s joy
• devon & nico's three-year retreat

This episode closes with a guided appreciation practice led by devon. Learn more about devon and nico’s new book, This Messy, Gorgeous Love, and other offerings by visiting their website right here. 

Join Nico and Sharon virtually on May 9th, 2026 for a daylong teaching The Fire That Sustains.

You can hear devon and nico’s first appearance on Ep. 142 of the Metta Hour Podcast.

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The Buddha taught a path of awakened living, but how does that manifest in today’s world of constant connectivity and widespread suffering?

How do we keep our hearts open without being defined or hardened by the pain that surrounds us, whether personal, collective, or historical? How do we navigate the paradox of holding both pain and joy, without mistaking suffering for punishment or personal failure? Can we infuse our compassion with wisdom and perspective to find the agency to take meaningful action in our communities? 

In her new series, Engaged Compassion, Sharon delves into these questions and more, engaging in candid conversations with a diverse group of teachers, activists, and changemakers.

For the second episode in the series, Sharon speaks with Valarie Kaur, making her third appearance on the Metta Hour.

Valarie is a renowned social justice leader, lawyer, award-winning filmmaker, faith leader, mother, and best-selling author of See No Stranger, Sage Warrior, and World of Wonder. She leads the Revolutionary Love Project, building a movement to reclaim love as a force for justice. A daughter of Punjabi Sikh farmers in California, Valarie earned degrees at Stanford University, Harvard Divinity School, and Yale Law School and holds several honorary doctorates. She lives in LA in a multi-generational family.

Please note this conversation contains discussion of gun violence and ICE brutality.

In this conversation, Valarie and Sharon speak about:

• Valarie’s Revolutionary Bus Tour
• Embodying a world we want to live in
• Engagement over Escapism
• Wisdom from Angela Harrelson
• Valerie’s recent time in Minneapolis
• Redefining what it is to be a “neighbor”
• Reclaiming the best of our ancestral wisdom
• Shifting from either/our to both/and
• Breathing to alchemize suffering
• A future that leaves no one behind
• Love as our birthright
• How to love opponents without giving in
• The importance of humanizing the enemy
• The whole world is our family
• We don’t go to battle alone
• Community care versus self-care
• Different forms of resistance
• Mai Bhago and the 40 Liberated Ones

Additional Resources

The episode closes with a guided meditation led by Valarie.

Learn more about Valarie’s work right here. Here most recent book, Sage Warrior, is coming out in paperback on April 14th, 2026.

You can listen to Valarie’s first appearance on the Metta Hour in Episode 126, recorded in 2020 and her second appearance, Episode 218, recorded in 2023.

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For episode 282, Elisha Goldstein, PhD, returns to the Metta Hour to speak with Sharon about his new book, Tiny Shifts: How Emotional Health Transforms Stress, Relationships, and Longevity.

Elisha Goldstein is a clinical psychologist, bestselling author, and the co-founder of The Center for Mindful Living and Psychotherapy in Los Angeles. For over two decades, he has helped people break free from the conditioning that keeps them stuck in cycles of stress and overwhelm, uncovering how emotional health naturally transforms stress, relationships, and longevity. Elisha is the author of several books, including Uncovering Happiness, and The Now Effect, as well as hosting The Emotional Longevity Podcast. 

In this conversation, Sharon and Elisha speak about:

• Living in a culture of overwhelm
• David Foster Wallace’s fish story
• Insight alone doesn’t create change
• Underlying conditioning of chronic stress
• Realizing our natural intelligence
• The challenge of practicing wisdom
• How tiny shifts create lasting change
• Interrupting stress patterns
• Emotional regulation and impulse control
• The 4R method: Recognize, Release, Refocus, Reinforce
• How emotional health supports longevity
• Listening to the body’s signals
• Reclaiming our attention

This episode closes with a guided meditation led by Elisha.

Learn more about Elisha’s new book Tiny Shifts: How Emotional Health Transforms Stress, Relationships, and Longevity and his other offerings, by visiting his website right here. You can listen to Elisha’s first appearance on the Metta Hour from 2018 right here.

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