The Spiritual Edge

The Central American country of Guatemala promotes its indigenous heritage to tourists. At the same time, its government has historically marginalized and discriminated against the Maya, many of whom endured terrible violence during a decades-long civil war. Twenty five years after the war’s end, human rights leader Rosalina Tuyuc is promoting healing for her people based on ancient Maya wisdom. Through these teachings she began to understand, “That it’s good not to feel defeated. That we should keep moving  forward, loving life, and our existence.”

California reports more cases of human tracking than any state In Oakland, most sex trafficking victims are Black girls under the age 18. While living in Australia, healing from her own trauma, a visit from Beyoncé pushed Regina Evans to return home to Oakland. She's now an activist and artist using her creative gifts to call attention to the trafficking crisis and to rescue girls on a strip.

Caroline Yongue wants to talk about death, a subject many of us would rather avoid. She's the founder and director of the Carolina Memorial Sanctuary, a small cemetery offering environmentally-friendly burials in Western North Carolina. The Sanctuary is grounded in a Buddhist ethos and committed to restoring native ecosystems. It's also part of a larger project to change how Americans approach death and grief — creating new ways to live with loss, from the ground up.

Mehool Sanghrajka isn't your typical tech CEO. To start with, his worldview is grounded in ancient Indian philosophy, one which inspires him to serve not just his close-knit religious community, but people he's never met. He believes education is the key to improving the life chances of children. As the coronavirus pandemic forced millions of students online, his Jain worldview and tech savvy helped him to meet the moment.

COVID-19 prison lockdowns prevented family and friends from visiting the nation's nearly two million prisoners; they also shut down education programs. However, at a maximum security prison near Chicago, one trail-blazing theology instructor managed to keep reaching inside. Years back, a student had encouraged Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom to think about how she could put her beliefs into practice. The result was the first master's degree program available to incarcerated people at an Illinois prison.

Former President Trump labeled COVID-19 the "China Virus" and "Kung Flu." Since then, violence targeting Asian Americans has surged. As a result, older Asian Americans are afraid of facing attacks on their walks to the grocery store. Parents fear harassment against their kids at school. Russell Jeung, the co-founder of the Stop AAPI Hate coalition, is determined to make this reality known. TIME magazine has listed the coalition founders among its 100 most influential people for 2021.

There's a lot of talk about the the coronavirus pandemic has taken on our collective mental health. Years ago, people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo confronted another deadly and highly contagious disease. Like now, misinformation was rampant. No one trusted the health authorities. And in-person funerals were not allowed. Mental health counselor Noe Kasali was determined to help. He recognized a problem: that in the face of so many losses, survivors had no way to grieve.

Season 2 of The Spiritual Edge launches with a second series of intimate profiles called Sacred Steps. We dive in with stories from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, Oakland, California and a maximum security state prison in Illinois. These are people who are standing up to intolerance. Risking their lives to heal their communities. And always challenging the status quo.

It's a second dose of hope and inspiration that crosses the boundaries of multiple faiths.

Take the next step with us. Listen and subscribe to get Season 2 of The Spiritual Edge.

The Poor People's Campaign is an interfaith movement to end poverty in the United States. It builds on an earlier movement launched by Martin Luther King Jr. and other activists in 1968, an organizing effort that connected civil rights to economic justice. In this episode of TSE's series Sacred Steps, we meet Shailly Gupta Barnes, one of its leading tacticians. She's an Indian American who grounds her commitment to economic justice in her family's Hindu traditions.

On this episode of TSE's Sacred Steps: most religions teach people to help those in need. But what happens when that mandate clashes with how the government views the law? After federal prosecutors cracked down on volunteers providing aid on the border, Scott Warren faced decades in prison for following his conscience.