Appamāda: Care, Responsibility, and Being Like Water with Roshi Joan Halifax

In this episode of the Peacemakers Podcast, Roshi Joan Halifax reflects on Appamāda—a Buddhist teaching often translated as vigilance or heedfulness, and here offered simply as care.Speaking from a life shaped by civil rights work, caregiving, and decades of practice alongside Bernie Glassman, Joan explores what it means to stay present with moral distress without rushing toward answers. Drawing on Bernie’s teaching of Not Knowing and Bearing Witness, she invites us to let response arise not from ideology or strategy, but from direct contact with suffering—our own and the world’s.Through images of water—fluid, responsive, inclusive—and the story of Anishinaabe grandmother Josephine Mandamin carrying a single bucket along the shores of the Great Lakes, Joan points to a practice grounded in responsibility at human scale. Not grand solutions, but showing up. Not certainty, but care. Again and again.This is a conversation about conscience, community, and the small, faithful acts through which our vows are lived—moment by moment, right where we are.If this conversation moves you, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. You’ll get access to all of our content—podcasts, articles, event recordings, and more—and help sustain the work of Zen Peacemakers.Learn more at www.zenpeacemakers.orgWe invite you to support this work. Become a paying subscriber to the Peacemakers Podcast or join the Zen Peacemakers community as a member.Show Credits:* Speaker: Roshi Joan Halifax* Recording Date: December 12, 2023* Hosts: Geoff Shōun O’Keeffe, Jim Hōden Fricker* Audio & Video Editing/Engineering: Jim Hōden Fricker* Event Coordinators: Clotilde Wright, Geoff Shōun O’Keeffe* Related Video: HERE This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit voice.zenpeacemakers.org/subscribe