Nurturing Our Demons

What if we stopped seeing the demons in our lives – depression, overeating, illness, anger, the list goes on – as enemies to be conquered? Renowned American Buddhist leader Tsultrim Allione offers us a powerful and transformative practice that may seem counter-intuitive: nurturing our demons and turning them into allies. She takes us on a fantastic journey as she shares her life as a Buddhist nun and teaches a gentle process we can use to heal the negativity in our lives. Allione suggests that we “Take the paradigm of feeding rather than fighting our own inner demons.” She offers a step-by-step process adapted from the wisdom of Tibet’s greatest female spiritual master Machig Lapdron, who lived in the 11th century. In the story of Machig, Tsultrim tells us: “The demons were so moved by her fearlessness and by her generosity, compassion, and the stability of her meditation that they said to her: Not only will we not harm you but we will become your protectors and we will protect all of those who follow you.” (hosted by Justine Willis Toms)