199 - A Candle in the Darkness

Secular Buddhism

Noah Rasheta

Spirituality, Buddhism, Mindfulness, Society & Culture, Meditation, Secular, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy

4.8 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 6 March 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In times of uncertainty and suffering, many of us find ourselves asking: What can I do? The weight of the world’s challenges—humanitarian crises, injustice, personal struggles—can feel overwhelming, leaving us wondering whether our efforts even make a difference.

In this episode of the Secular Buddhism podcast, I’m sharing the audio from a recent Dharma talk on the Bodhisattva path—a way of engaging with suffering that is rooted in compassion, wisdom, and the recognition of our deep interconnection. The Bodhisattva path invites us to act, not because we are certain we can fix everything, but because compassionate action is itself a meaningful response to the suffering around us.

Through personal stories, Buddhist teachings, and reflections on our shared humanity, this talk explores how we can light even the smallest candle in the darkness without burning out or losing hope.

I hope this episode offers you some clarity, encouragement, and a renewed sense of purpose in these challenging times.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to another episode of the Secular Buddhism podcast.
0:06.3	This is episode number 199.
0:09.7	I am your host, Noah Rochetta.
0:12.3	Today's episode is going to be a little different instead of the usual format.
0:16.2	I'll be sharing the audio from a Dharma talk I gave this past Sunday on the topic of the Bodhisattva Pa
0:22.6	and how we can approach suffering in the world. As I've been thinking about the state of the
0:27.7	world lately, I've received several messages from listeners who are feeling overwhelmed by
0:32.4	the suffering that they see around them. One email in particular from a humanitarian aid worker really struck me.
0:39.5	She asked, what can I do when it feels like whatever I do doesn't matter? I think this is a question
0:45.4	that many of us are grappling with right now. When we see so much pain and injustice in the world,
0:52.1	it's easy to feel powerless, to wonder if our small actions
0:56.4	make any difference at all. This Darmatok explores the concept of the Bodhisattva path,
1:02.7	someone who commits to helping all beings while releasing attachment to outcomes.
1:08.7	I share some practical ways we can engage with the world's suffering without
1:13.3	becoming overwhelmed by it. As always, keep in mind that you don't need to use what you learn
1:18.4	from Buddhism to be a Buddhist. You can use what you learn to be a better whatever you already are.
1:24.0	With that, let's jump into the audio of the Dharma talk.
1:29.4	I have a lot of thoughts that I wanted to share.
1:33.3	This may be slightly longer than the typical Dharma talk.
1:41.3	But this is inspired by a couple of emails that I've received,
1:46.4	requests that I've received in recent times from friends or podcast listeners,
1:53.3	just regarding some of the topics of things going on in the world, and also inspired by
	...

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