The Rain of Compassion: A Kural Conversation with Dr. Larry Ward

On poetry that reaches us wherever we may be

With senior dharma teacher Dr. Larry Ward I was delighted to explore openness to all people, Thich Nhat Hanh’s Miracle of Mindfulness, and poetry that takes us into our depths.

Here are a few highlights and where in the video you can find them:

On being held by unseen arms and training our eyes to look on people with openness: 3:27
Poetry that opens a door to the mystic dimension: 8:49
Rain, Thich Nhat Hanh, and the Miracle of Mindfulness: 12:13
Each verse as an entry point into our depths: 16:28
The poetry dialogue that Larry is putting together and how poetry is emptiness, in the sense that it is nonlocal and able to reach us wherever we may be: 20:12

Dr. Larry Ward is a senior teacher in Buddhist Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village tradition. He brings twenty five years of international experience in organizational change and local community renewal to his work as director of the Lotus Institute and as an advisor to the Executive Mind Leadership Institute at the Drucker School of Management. He holds a PhD in Religious Studies with an emphasis on Buddhism and the neuroscience of meditation. Larry is a knowledgeable, charismatic and inspirational teacher, offering insights with personal stories and resounding clarity that express his dharma name, “True Great Sound.”

Learn more about Larry on the Lotus Institute website: https://www.thelotusinstitute.org/

Here are the verses we talked about, in both English and Tamil:

571
The astonishing beauty of eyes that are moved—because
It exists this world exists

கண்ணோட்டம் என்னும் கழிபெருங் காரிகை
உண்மையான் உண்டிவ் வுலகு

12
Making food fit for feeding and itself
Food that feeds—rain

துப்பார்க்குத் துப்பாய துப்பாக்கித் துப்பார்க்குத்
துப்பாய தூஉம் மழை

991
From openness to all people the practice
Of kindness comes easily

எண்பதத்தால் எய்தல் எளிதென்ப யார்மாட்டும்
பண்புடைமை என்னும் வழக்கு

Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston