Quotes by Joan Halifax

About Joan Halifax:

Joan Jiko Halifax is an American Zen Buddhist roshi, anthropologist, ecologist, civil rights activist, hospice caregiver, and the author of several books on Buddhism and spirituality. She currently serves as abbot and guiding teacher of Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a Zen Peacemaker community which she founded in 1990. Halifax-roshi has received Dharma transmission from both Bernard Glassman and Thich Nhat Hanh, and previously studied under the Korean master Seung Sahn. In the 1970s she collaborated on LSD research projects with her ex-husband Stanislav Grof, in addition to other collaborative efforts with Joseph Campbell and Alan Lomax. She is founder of the Ojai Foundation in California, which she led from 1979 to 1989. As a socially engaged Buddhist, Halifax has done extensive work with the dying through her Project on Being with Dying (which she founded). She is on the board of directors of the Mind and Life Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated in exploring the relationship of science and Buddhism.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Compassion may be defined as the capacity to be attentive to the experience of others, to wish the best for others, and to sense what will truly serve others.

Joan Halifax

I've worked in the prison system, on death row and maximum security. I did that work for six years. I've worked with some of the most difficult people in our society. Buddhism was accessible and helpful for these individuals.

Joan Halifax

If compassion is so good for us, why don't we train our health care providers in compassion so that they can do what they're supposed to do, which is to transform suffering?

Joan Halifax

Compassion has enemies, and those enemies are things like pity, moral outrage, fear.

Joan Halifax

Many of us think that compassion drains us, but I promise you it is something that truly enlivens us.

Joan Halifax

Most of us are shrinking in the face of psycho-social and physical poisons, of the toxins of our world. But compassion, the generation of compassion, actually mobilizes our immunity.

Joan Halifax

For me, Buddhism is a psychology and a philosophy that provides a means, upayas, for working with the mind.

Joan Halifax

When I first was exposed to Buddhism in the mid-1960s, I said it was so practical and utterly pragmatic. That's what attracted me to Buddhism.

Joan Halifax

Compassionate action emerges from the sense of openness, connectedness, and discernment you have created.

Joan Halifax

Developing our capacity for compassion makes it possible for us to help others in a more skillful and effective way. And compassion helps us as well.

Joan Halifax

We live in a time when science is validating what humans have known throughout the ages: that compassion is not a luxury; it is a necessity for our well-being, resilience, and survival.

Joan Halifax

My work has been in the field of engaged Buddhism. That is my own practice, which began in 1965 that formed the base for the work I was doing in the civil rights and anti-war movement.

Joan Halifax

Author Bio

  • NameJoan Halifax
  • DescriptionAmerican Zen Buddhist roshi, anthropologist, ecologist, and civil rights activist
  • Born1942
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionAnthropologist