The Garrison Institute Presents: The Common Good

What does it mean to flourish—not as isolated individuals, but as members of a living web of relationships? In this episode, Indigenous scholar, contemplative researcher, and author Yuria Celidwen explores the wisdom traditions that have shaped her work on collective wellbeing, ecological belonging, and kinship with the more-than-human world. Drawing from her Maya Tseltal heritage and decades of r...

In this episode, Jonathan F.P. Rose speaks with Otto Scharmer, founder of the Presencing Institute, senior lecturer at MIT, and creator of Theory U, a leadership and systems-change framework for sensing and shaping emerging futures. Drawing on his journey from his family's regenerative farm in Germany to pioneering global transformation initiatives, Scharmer explores how deep listening, awareness,...

In this 10-minute guided meditation, Sharon invites you to gather your attention and energy toward the practice of loving kindness. Through the use of select phrases, you'll have an opportunity to direct your heart's energy toward those around you, toward yourself, and ultimately toward all creatures and beings. You can find more meditations and contemplative resources like this at GarrisonInstitu...

Buddhist teacher Josh Korda of Dharma Punx NYC joins Steve Varley for a wide-ranging conversation on addiction recovery, meditation, neuroscience, and the search for meaningful community in modern life. Josh reflects on his own path to sobriety, leaving a successful advertising career after 9/11, and helping build a contemplative community for outsiders and seekers. Together they explore the overl...

In this special in-person conversation recorded at the Garrison Institute, Cynthia Bourgeault and David Frenette explore the transformative practice of Centering Prayer, nondual consciousness, and the spiritual legacy of Father Thomas Keating. Drawing from decades of teaching, retreat leadership, and personal friendship with Keating, Bourgeault and Frenette reflect on prayer not as escape, but as...

Cultural ecologist David Abram explores the “more-than-human world,” challenging the human-centered mindset of the Anthropocene and calling for a return to ecological humility. In this rich conversation, Abram weaves philosophy, indigenous wisdom, and lived experience to reveal our deep reciprocity with Earth—from the air we breathe to the bodies we inhabit. He unpacks concepts like consanguinity,...

In this conversation recorded not long before her death in 2025, activist and systems thinker Joanna Macy joins Jonathan at a Garrison Institute Pathways to Planetary Health forum to discuss how we can stay present and purposeful in a time of ecological and social crisis. Drawing on Buddhism, systems theory, and decades of activism, she shares insights on interdependence, non-linear thinking, and...

In this eight-minute guided meditation, Sharon invites us to explore a walking meditation or gentle movement, with our eyes open, bringing a light awareness to our bodies and the world around us. You can find more meditations and contemplative resources like this at ⁠GarrisonInstitute.org⁠, along with information about our Contemplative-Based Resilience initiative and other programs supporting tho...

In this episode, Judy Lief—a longtime student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and a leading voice in bringing Tibetan Buddhist teachings to the West—reflects on a life shaped by curiosity, unexpected turns, and deep contemplative practice. She shares her early search for meaning, her transformative path into Buddhism, and decades of work editing and preserving Trungpa Rinpoche's teachings. Judy explor...

What would it take to redesign society so all life can thrive? In this episode, systems thinker Jeremy Lent explores the vision of an ecological civilization—one rooted in interconnectedness, justice, and the commons. He traces how today’s extractive, growth-driven economy emerged, why it behaves like a self-perpetuating “Wendigo” system, and how even promising technologies get captured by its log...

What would it mean to redesign capitalism so it works like a living system? In this powerful conversation, John Fullerton—former Wall Street executive and founder of the Capital Institute—shares his journey from high finance to becoming a leading voice in regenerative economics. Drawing on ecological science, systems thinking, and ancient wisdom traditions, he explains why today’s economic model—r...

What would it mean to transform education—and capitalism—with love? In this conversation, economist Rebecca Henderson (author of Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire) and leading policy advisor Jamie Bristow explore how mindfulness and inner development can reshape business, politics, and leadership. Drawing on their experience at Harvard Business School, the UK Parliament, and the global inn...

In this seven-minute guided meditation, Sharon invites you to turn a kind and gentle attention toward any suffering you may be experiencing—meeting pain with compassion, connecting to our shared human experience, and returning to bodily presence and phrases of self-compassion with kindness and acceptance. This meditation was originally recorded for The Garrison Institute's Contemplative-Based Resi...

Architect, systems innovator, and Dark Matter Labs co-founder Indy Johar joins Jonathan F.P. Rose for a far-reaching conversation on how we might redesign the invisible operating systems of society for a more just, regenerative, and compassionate world. Together they explore relational citizenship, radical civic economies, bioregional organizing, and why care, presence, and partial knowing are ess...

In this expansive conversation, Daniel Goleman—author of Emotional Intelligence and a pioneer in the science of wellbeing—explores how inner awareness shapes leadership, systems change, and the future of our shared world. Drawing on neuroscience, contemplative practice, and decades of research, Goleman explains why emotional intelligence, empathy, and compassion are no longer soft skills, but esse...

In this seven-minute guided meditation, Sharon invites you to bring your attention to the feeling of the breath, and as the mind wanders, to gently train your mind to let go, forgive yourself, and begin again—returning with kindness to the breath. This meditation was originally recorded for The Garrison Institute's Contemplative-Based Resilience initiative. We will be bringing you smaller practice...

What if the way we respond to crisis is part of the crisis itself? In this wide-ranging conversation, philosopher and post-activist thinker Bayo Akomolafe invites us to step beyond binaries, solutions, and moral certainty into a deeper encounter with ambiguity, relationality, and becoming. Drawing on Yoruba cosmology, post-humanist philosophy, and lived experience, Bayo explores fugitivity, post-a...

In this wide-ranging and personal conversation, physician, scientist, and bestselling author Siddhartha Mukherjee explores what genes, cells, and human societies reveal about our profound interdependence. Drawing from The Gene and The Song of the Cell, Mukherjee reframes biology not as a fixed blueprint, but as an improvisational system—shaped by horizontal gene transfer, environment, and the cons...

In this five-minute guided meditation, Sharon invites you to anchor your awareness in the breath while practicing the gentle art of letting go. When thoughts arise, whether pleasant or difficult, you're guided to recognize them as "not breath," release them, and return your attention to the present moment.  You can find more meditations and contemplative resources like this at GarrisonInstitute.or...

In this rich and inspiring conversation, meditation pioneer Sharon Salzberg explores how we move from the “three S’s” of modern life—separate, scared, and selfish—to the “three C’s”: connected, compassionate, and courageous. Sharon shares practical tools from her Real Happiness framework, the annual 28-day meditation challenge, and her decades of work with caregivers, frontline workers, and trauma...

Visionary activist and spiritual teacher Konda Mason joins The Common Good to explore how healing the land is inseparable from healing ourselves. In this powerful conversation with Jonathan F.P. Rose, Konda shares the story of Jubilee Justice, a cooperative reclaiming Black agricultural wisdom through regenerative rice farming and community ownership across the American South. She traces rice’s de...

In this five-minute guided meditation, Sharon invites you to tune into the sounds around you. Perfect for a quick reset during a busy day or as part of your regular mindfulness routine, this practice helps you use everyday sounds as gentle anchors to return to the present moment, wherever you are. You can find more meditations and contemplative resources like this at GarrisonInstitute.org, along w...

In this illuminating conversation, science writer and Biomimicry Institute co-founder Janine Benyus joins Jonathan F.P. Rose to explore nature’s universals—the deep design patterns that guide all living systems. Benyus, known worldwide for pioneering biomimicry, reveals how life creates the conditions conducive to life through cooperation, self-organization, and elegant networked intelligence. Fro...

In this episode, Jonathan FP Rose, co-founder of the Garrison Institute, hosts Dr. Dan Siegel, Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute and renowned Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA. Dr. Siegel is celebrated for his pioneering work in interpersonal neurobiology and is the author of numerous bestsellers, including his most recent book, Personality and Wholeness in Therapy. Together, Ro...

This episode features Dr. Monica Gagliano, pioneering researcher in plant acoustics and author of Thus Spoke the Plant. Recognized alongside Jane Goodall and Rachel Carson as one of the world’s most inspiring women in science, Gagliano challenges us to reconsider plants as sentient, intelligent beings. From her early work on the Great Barrier Reef to groundbreaking experiments showing that plants...