Dr. Brown joined the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas’ Forum on Covid-19 to reflect on the Covid-19 pandemic. Exploring how during this pandemic, is it changing our way of thinking about life, and how to live a more meaningful life of awareness and compassion.

Watch the whole talk on YouTube here.

I grew up in Tampa, Florida. A lot of the people I know I’m pretty sure are Trump supporters, even relatives of mine. When we talk we talk about how’s your life going, what do you need in life? I probably harp too much on climate but I see it as an existential crisis that we have to take action on immediately. They often don’t know climate at all. What I’ve found out, especially for the Trump supporters, when I start talking about climate, they actually doo care. They do care about what the future will be like for their kids and grandkids. They’ve already suffered from extreme weather down in Florida and seen sea level rising. I’ve found if I can talk about things that are important to me and are important to them, we can agree on policies. A lot of the surveys from Pew or Data for Progress show that 70 to 80% of Americans agree on policies for stopping the climate crisis, for reducing inequality. So I don’t talk about Biden or Trump — what do we need in this country right now to improve people’s well-being? Because it’s amazing how we all actually do care about the same things, how to come together and care for each other and the planet. I find that’s really the only way to reach out and unite with other people.