Karen Armstrong: Steps to a Compassionate Life, Part 1

Oprah's Super Soul

Oprah

Society & Culture

4.6 • 33.1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 December 2018

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Former Catholic nun, world-renowned religious scholar and author Karen Armstrong discusses her memoir, "The Spiral Staircase." Karen discusses the details of her fascinating spiritual journey, which began when she joined a convent at the age of 17. Hoping to forge a deep connection to God, her inspiration was met with harsh disillusionment. Karen says she was deeply unhappy as a nun and unable to pray. Seven years later, she left the convent feeling like a failure, with her future in question. Karen says she avoided all organized religion for more than a decade, but then returned to the subject years later as a writer and scholar after experiencing an "awakening" while on assignment in Jerusalem. In our “perilously divided world,” we need to live more compassionately now more than ever, she says. In her book "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life," Karen outlines simple practices anyone can do in hopes of making a lifelong commitment to creating a more harmonious world. (Part 1 of 2)

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0:00.0	I'm Oprah Winfrey. Welcome to Super Soul Conversations, the podcast. I believe that one of the most valuable gifts you can give yourself is time, taking time to be more fully present.
0:16.0	Your journey to become more inspired and connected to the deeper world around us starts right now.
0:25.0	Our new art and art is considered one of the most influential, one of the most provocative and original thinkers on religion today.
0:35.0	All words that describe exactly what we love on this show, original, provocative.
0:41.0	Karen's personal spiritual journey is a fascinating one that I know all of you super-soulers are going to be intrigued as I was.
0:49.0	And it's not at all what you might expect from a former Catholic nun.
0:54.0	World-renowned religious scholar Karen Armstrong was born in 1944. She grew up Catholic in the heart of the United Kingdom.
1:02.0	Though she wasn't raised in a particularly devout family, Karen felt drawn to the Roman Catholic faith.
1:09.0	At 17, she decided on her own to become a nun, hoping to find inspiration and wisdom, enlightenment.
1:18.0	But life at the Convent soon proved to be much different than what she expected. Her mental and physical health suffered.
1:25.0	And after seven years, Karen hit rock bottom.
1:28.0	She left religious life and threw herself into continuing studies at Oxford University struggling to regain her bearings.
1:35.0	In a world that in many ways she felt had left her behind.
1:41.0	Karen eventually did what we all must do. She discovered her calling as a teacher and a writer.
1:49.0	Her first memoir, through the narrow gate, was published in 1982 to rave reviews, catapulting her onto a worldwide stage.
1:58.0	She became a familiar face in England, appearing frequently on television as a guest and even hosted a series.
2:04.0	She has studied the great religions of the world and written more than 20 books.
2:10.0	She's become an outspoken and powerful voice for religious tolerance and compassion.
2:16.0	In 2008, she was awarded the prestigious Ted Prize for all of her work.
2:21.0	Thought-provoking, groundbreaking, she challenges her readers to see world religions from a viewpoint of connection rather than our differences.
2:32.0	Her memoir, The Spiral Sterecase, is a deeply moving account of her extraordinary spiritual journey and spiritual awakening.
2:41.0	Let's start at the beginning because this is one of the most fascinating memoirs I've ever encountered.
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