Brian Byrnes: 04-16-2014: Touching the Earth and Sky: Easter, Passover, and the Robe of Liberation

Summary: Episode Description: In this wide-ranging talk, Brian weaves together stories from three wisdom traditions: the Passover story from Judaism, the Christian story of Easter, and the Four "Ennobling" Truths from Buddhism. For Brian, these three stories contain the very pith of their respective traditions. Brian explores how these stories speak about human suffering, presenting suffering as something that must be "plunged into" as opposed to avoided or denied. Brian first discusses the Passover story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt and toward liberation in the "promised land." He then touches upon the story of the great agony, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus, and finally speaks about suffering in the Buddhist tradition. In each case, suffering is seen as a deeply human reality, inexplicable, perhaps even unjust, but nonetheless a part of the "whole works," something that must be fully known as we mature spiritually. Bio: Joshin Brian Byrnes is a novice priest at Upaya Zen Center and president and CEO of the Santa Fe Community Foundation. He worked at the Boston AIDS Action Committee, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and was CEO of the Vermont Community Foundation and Managing Director at Tides Foundation. His nonprofit career spans over twenty years, where he has led complex organizations through profound change processes, organizational growth, and repositioning them for increased social impact, financial sustainability, and organizational learning. Currently, he is involved with a number of of national philanthropic projects including being the chair-elect of CFLeads: Community Foundations Leading Change, and is a member of the Community Foundation Leadership Team at the Council on Foundations. His academic background includes undergraduate and graduate work in philosophy at St. Meinrad College, theology at the Aquinas Institute at St. Louis University, early music performance at New England Conservatory of Music, and medieval musicology at New York University. He has also studied and practiced organizational development with Peter Senge (The Fifth Discipline), and has been trained in Organizational and Relationship Systems Coaching. He is cultivating a “back and forth” practice, moving between the zendo and the larger world of social service, organizational leadership, and social engagement.