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The Road Home with Ethan NichternAuthor: Ethan Nichtern
The Road Home podcast with author and teacher is Ethan Nichtern is a contemporary exploration of Buddhist teachings and conversation with thought leaders interested in Psychology, Art, Culture, and Politics through the lens of mindfulness practice. Since 2002, Ethan has taught meditation and Buddhist psychology classes and workshops around the United States and online. He is the author of multiple books, including The Road Home: A Contemporary Exploration of The Buddhist Path. He is currently the head of the Yearlong Buddhist Studies Program for Dharmamoon.com. More info at EthanNichtern.com Language: en Genres: Buddhism, Religion & Spirituality, Spirituality Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Ep. 168 - How (and When) Do We Practice Compassion For Those Who Cause Harm?
Episode 168
Monday, 16 February, 2026
Ethan tackles an age-old dharma question: how do we generate compassion for those who do harmful things? Should we even try, or does that make things worse? In the age of ICE lawlessness, totalitarian governments, and coming to terms with toxic relationships of all kinds, this question intensifies. This conversation often feels misunderstood. Whether the perpetrator is a dictator, a difficult ex, or a manipulative boss—or whether the harm is something we ourselves have caused—the question of building compassion and opening the bodhisattva's heart often delivers more confusion than clarity. Using a memory of hearing a college lecture by the long-imprisoned Tibetan monk Palden Gyatso, Ethan offers a simple (but never easy) three-step model of how to go about the difficult process of acknowledging and transforming the negative karma related to harmful actions. In 2025, with your subscriptions, we were able to release more episodes than any previous year. This was only possible with your subscriptions. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber here. Paid subscribers to The Road Home will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! The Thursday Meditation Group happens each week at 8am ET on Thursdays, and guided audio meditations are released monthly. Another bonus podcast for paid subscribers discussed a mindful take on intuition, and Ethan also offered instruction in the RAIN method for working with emotions with self-compassion. These are all available to paid subscribers. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). You can now order personally signed copies of Ethan's books at his website. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). Check out our sponsor platform, A Mindful World! A new free video course on a classic Buddhist contemplation called The Five Remembrances is available at this link.
