The Buddha taught a path of awakened living, but how does that manifest in today’s world of constant connectivity and widespread suffering?

How do we keep our hearts open without being defined or hardened by the pain that surrounds us, whether personal, collective, or historical? How do we navigate the paradox of holding both pain and joy, without mistaking suffering for punishment or personal failure? Can we infuse our compassion with wisdom and perspective to find the agency to take meaningful action in our communities?

In her new series, Engaged Compassion, Sharon delves into these questions and more, engaging in candid conversations with a diverse group of teachers, activists, and changemakers.

For the second episode in the series, Sharon speaks with Valarie Kaur, making her third appearance on the Metta Hour.

Valarie is a renowned social justice leader, lawyer, award-winning filmmaker, faith leader, mother, and best-selling author of See No Stranger, Sage Warrior, and World of Wonder. She leads the Revolutionary Love Project, building a movement to reclaim love as a force for justice. A daughter of Punjabi Sikh farmers in California, Valarie earned degrees at Stanford University, Harvard Divinity School, and Yale Law School and holds several honorary doctorates. She lives in LA in a multi-generational family.

Please note this conversation contains discussion of gun violence and ICE brutality.

In this conversation, Valarie and Sharon speak about:

Valarie’s Revolutionary Bus Tour
Embodying a world we want to live in
Engagement over Escapism
Wisdom from Angela Harrelson
Valerie’s recent time in Minneapolis
Redefining what it is to be a “neighbor”
Reclaiming the best of our ancestral wisdom
Shifting from either/our to both/and
Breathing to alchemize suffering
A future that leaves no one behind
Love as our birthright
How to love opponents without giving in
The importance of humanizing the enemy
The whole world is our family
We don’t go to battle alone
Community care versus self-care
Different forms of resistance
Mai Bhago and the 40 Liberated Ones

Additional Resources

The episode closes with a guided meditation led by Valarie.

Learn more about Valarie’s work right here. Here most recent book, Sage Warrior, is coming out in paperback on April 14th, 2026.

You can listen to Valarie’s first appearance on the Metta Hour in Episode 126, recorded in 2020 and her second appearance, Episode 218, recorded in 2023.

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Ep. 283 – Engaged Compassion: Valarie Kaur

Metta Hour with Sharon Salzberg