Veterans, Vairagya & Vast Self

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I have a new essay out in the quarterly on-line magazine, The Badger. This essay looks at the state of vairagya from Hindu philosophy, similar to a state of non-attachment and compares this with the negative vairagya state that many Veterans have upon returning home – they feel disconnected and detached. I also add some perspectives from my ongoing work with Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow) and that is where his concept of Vast Self comes in.

This is a piece I had written for Walking the Medicine Wheel, but we had to cut it down quite a bit and I thought this piece was worth publishing. I particularly like the idea of a Veteran Monastery – a place for quiet contemplation, healing, and recovery!

Year 3 Volume 3

Here is the link to the article.

Finding the Held-Back Place of Goodness in the Broken Hearts of Veterans

Thanks to The Center for Courage & Renewal’s blog post about Walking the Medicine Wheel: Healing Trauma & PTSD that Joseph Rael and I wrote!

You can read the blog here. It is an excerpt from the book that I edited and includes some quotes by Parker Palmer about the two ways the heart can break: it can shatter – injuring self and others, or it can break open into greater goodness and compassion.

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Center of the Heart by Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow)

Courage & Renewal tweeted about the blog: “David Kopacz (and Joseph Rael) unpack the #courage of our veterans through the lens of @Parker Palmer’s ‘broken-open heart.'”

 

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Warrior Healing by David Kopacz