Ep. 8: Rob Roeser — The Teacher Is the Curriculum (How contemplative science meets the human heart)

Ep. 8: Rob Roeser — The Teacher Is the Curriculum (How contemplative science meets the human heart)

In this episode of Living Dharma, co-hosts Tsunma Kunsang Palmo and Justin Kelley sit down with Rob Roeser, a developmental psychologist who has spent his life with a foot in two worlds that do not always speak to one another: the rigorous world of science and the quiet world of contemplative practice. Director of Research at Emory University's Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics, and a longtime contributor to the Mind and Life Institute, Rob is a leading figure in what has come to be called developmental contemplative science, the study of how practices like mindfulness and compassion shape the heart and mind across the whole arc of a human life. The conversation traces his own origin story, from a childhood curiosity about the life of Jesus, through the burnout that cracked him open in graduate school, to his slow arrival in the contemplative traditions of India and Tibet. Along the way he reflects on struggle as the seedbed of transformation, his honest and ongoing wrestling with the first noble truth, and why he believes a teacher's inner life is, in a very real sense, the curriculum. Rob also turns toward the harder questions of our time. How do we educate young people for an unstable world? What do gratitude, interdependence, and wonder have to do with it? And what might an education look like that draws on pre-modern wisdom to meet a post-modern age. Warm and wide-ranging, this is a conversation about waking up the wonder in ourselves and in those we teach.

Ep. 7: Bill and Susan Morgan — Lighting Up the Moment (Bringing heart and play into daily practice)

In this episode of Living Dharma, co-hosts Tsunma Kunsang Palmo and Justin Kelly sit down with Bill and Susan Morgan, two highly respected voices at the intersection of mindfulness and psychotherapy. With over three decades of teaching together—including a consecutive four-year retreat at the Insight Meditation Society's Forest Refuge—Bill and Susan share their personal evolution away from rigid, hyper-intensive meditation toward an accessible, heart-centered approach.  Drawing from their backgrounds as a psychologist and a psychiatric clinical nurse specialist, they introduce the concept of an "inner holding environment". They explain how leaning into and holding difficult experiences kindly allows for true somatic healing, rather than simply labeling thoughts from a distance.  The conversation also explores the dynamics of long-term spiritual partnership, navigating conflict in spiritual communities without spiritual bypassing, and the power of collective practice. Bill and Susan discuss founding "The Daily Sit" online community during the 2020 pandemic and emphasize using "soft concentration" to soothe overwhelmed nervous systems. Joyful and nurturing, this episode offers practical wisdom for integrating the Dharma through simple rituals, evening gratitude games, and a deep appreciation for the miracle of being alive.

Ep. 6: Susan Kaiser Greenland — Real World Enlightenment (Mindfulness for Kids & Everyday Life)

In this episode of Living Dharma, we sit down with Susan Kaiser Greenland—best-selling author, mindfulness teacher, Mind & Life fellow, and a pioneering voice in bringing contemplative practice into schools and family life. Susan shares her path into meditation through a family health crisis, the challenges of a strong “thinking mind,” and how her legal training helped her navigate secular education settings with precision and care. We explore her foundational principle—“serve the child in front of you now”—and what she’s learned about attention, regulation, and humility from decades of working with young people. Susan also discusses her recent book Real World Enlightenment: Discovering Ordinary Magic in Everyday Life, and offers grounded reflections on practicing compassion and democratic values amid collective anxiety and polarization. A rich, practical conversation about awareness, love, compassion, wisdom—and finding ordinary magic in everyday life.

Ep. 5: Devon Hase — Ritual, Responsibility, and Remembering Why We’re Here

In this grounded and intimate conversation, Devon Hase reflects on Dharma not as abstraction, but as lived responsibility—something enacted through relationship, ritual, and daily attention. Rather than positioning practice as something separate from ordinary life, Devon speaks to the ways discipline, devotion, and meaning emerge through showing up consistently: for community, for grief, for inner listening, and for the world as it is. The conversation explores how ritual functions as a technology of care, how practice matures over time, and why remembering why we practice is as important as how. This episode invites listeners into a quieter understanding of Dharma—one rooted in embodiment, humility, and participation—where practice becomes less about self-improvement and more about belonging to something larger than oneself.

Ep 4: Roshi Joan Halifax — Practice, Activism, and Meeting Death with an Open Heart

In this deeply embodied conversation, Roshi Joan Halifax—Zen teacher, anthropologist, and founder of Upaya Zen Center—explores what it truly means to live Dharma in everyday life. Speaking with rare clarity and tenderness, Roshi Joan reflects on authentic practice as continuous practice: meeting each moment with wholeheartedness, mutuality, and non-separation. Drawing from decades of work in social activism, prison systems, hospice care, and contemplative training, she shares how contemplation and compassionate action are not separate paths, but one integrated way of being. She speaks candidly about suffering, impermanence, and our current global crises—inviting us not to turn away, but to sit in the “charnel grounds” of this world with courage and curiosity. From her own experiences with serious illness to her lifelong work accompanying the dying, Roshi Joan offers a powerful reminder: practice happens inside the life we actually have. This episode is a profound reflection on intimacy with reality, aligning values with intention, cultivating bodhicitta, and discovering how tenderness and resilience can arise even in the most difficult times.