This week we speak with Zen Master, Genpo Roshi, about the relationship between money and spirituality. It’s a hot topic and one that he is incredibly passionate about. He shares the details of a successful new fundraising campaign that his community puts on called the Big Heart Circle or 5/5/50. 5/5/50 stands for five people for five days, and at the cost of a $50,000 donation do a retreat with Genpo. He shares with us the specifics behind that retreat, including how the money is used, and responds to those people who find what he’s doing offensive.
He also shares his observations on how he, and many other spiritual practitioners, disown their own ambition, competitiveness, and greediness in a way that causes it to come out in extremely pernicious ways. The key, to him, is to re-own those parts of ourselves that we can be of benefit to all sentient beings, and just as in the 10 ox-herding pictures, re-enter the marketplace with gift bestowing hands.
Episode Links:
Big Mind – Big Heart: Finding Your Way ( http://bit.ly/JRp9q )
Big Mind Zen Center ( http://bigmind.org )