“If you’re invested in security and certainty,
you are on the wrong planet.” 
– Pema Chödrön

 

Wise Speech in Difficult Times – Tom Baker

May 5, 2024

Follow the podcast

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Spotify button
Listen on YouTube Music
Listen on Amazon Music button
Subscribe on Android button

Why is wholesome speech one of the hardest precepts to navigate?

Using the present Israeli / Palestinian conflict as an example, Tom Baker explores the many nuances of wise conversation, including:

  • The ways our words cause suffering
  • The intoxicating aspect of slander and gossip
  • The mindfulness component of watching our speech
  • Listening with our whole presence
  • Our responsibility to speak out against injustice
  • Overcoming our reluctance to speak up for ourselves
  • A Buddhist perspective on freedom of speech

______________
Tetsugen Tom Baker is a Soto Zen priest in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki-Roshi. He was ordained by Shinki Mark Lancaster at Dragon’s Leap Temple in 2017. He practices in the “Marketplace Priest” tradition. Long active in the Meditation in Recovery group, he was a founder of the off-shoot monthly Zen Men in 2015.

Tom works in the Geriatrics Division at UCSF and specializes in Palliative Care and end-of-life issues. He married his husband Gary Dexter in November 2021.