Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast. Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life. Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye.

Once a month I host a live online video Q&A, during which people from all over the world can tune in and ask questions or

spark a discussion about ways to implement some of the concepts from Buddhist boot camp or

faithfully religionless into their daily lives.

Even though we experienced some technical difficulties and delays during this month's

live stream, I wanted to share a couple of the questions and answers with you just the same.

The first question came from Anne-Marie, who is

still trying to navigate a relationship with her father in an effort to

minimize or eliminate toxicity in her life, while still being respectful of the

fact that he's her father.

She's in her early 50s and he has a long history of abusive, manipulative, and controlling behavior.

While she feels fortunate enough to live 3,000 miles away from him.

As he ages, she's starting to feel like she should reach out more,

knowing full well that the wood should is very guilt and shame-ridden.

She's naturally reluctant to let him back in her life because he's so

destructive so she asked if I could shed some perspective on how to handle toxic

family members. A quote by Alan Watts is the first thing that came to mind. He said, muddy water is best cleared by leaving

it alone. Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone. If we picture our life like a glass of water with some dirt on the bottom,

the best way to keep our water clear is by not staring old dirt into our daily lives.

Here's another way to look at it. Sometimes doctors choose to leave

shrapnel inside wounded soldiers because taking it out would cause more damage

than leaving it in. My mother and I will probably never speak again, for example, and since

...