Pema Chodron, a leading exponent of teachings on meditation and how they apply to everyday life and Jack Kornfield, meditation teacher and founder of Spirit Rock Center in Marin, will talk about wisdom and compassion 7 pm, May 26 at the Nob Hill Masonic Center in San Francisco.

The public dialogue, moderated by Michael Krasny of KQED?s popular Forum radio program, will explore the relationship between wisdom, compassion, suffering, and fear.

?Compassion is our capacity to care about others and our wish to alleviate their pain. It is based not on pity, but on the acknowledgement that we are all in this together. Compassion is a relationship between equals. So in any moment of hardness, we can connect with the compassion we already have for abused children, laboratory animals, our friends, our relatives, for anyone anywhere and let it open our heart and mind in what otherwise might feel like an impossibly frozen situation,? said Chodron, resident teacher of Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia.

Chodron, a student of the late Trungpa Rinpoche, the renowned Tibetan Buddhist meditation master, poet, and author who founded the Shambhala global network of centers in 1973, has written several books, including ?Start Where You Are?, and ?When Things Fall Apart?, and ?The Places That Scare You.?

Kornfield is a founding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society as well as Spirit Rock Center in Marin. His authored books include ?A Path with Heart? and ?The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace.?

Northern California Shambhala is a non-profit community of eleven meditation centers and study groups located throughout the bay area, including Marin, Sonoma, Davis, Berkeley, Mountain View, and San Francisco. It is part of an international network of centers dedicated to meditation and other contemplative practices. The Shambhala tradition is now led by the Trungpa Rinpoche?s son, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and hosts nationally recognized teachers and authors, including Chodron.

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?The Way of the Bodhisattva IV? June 2-5 Residential Retreat With Pema Chodron & Judith Simmer-Brown Holy Names University, 3500 Mountain Bl., Oakland ?No Time To Lose? July 8-10, Public Meditation Weekend With Pema Chodron & Jesse Miller St. Mary?s College of California, Moraga

Cost for May 26 is $25 to $45. For tickets, call 415-292-9191 or www.nobhilltickets.com. For information about this or other upcoming programs in the series, call Berkeley Shambhala Center, 510-841-3242 or visit www.norcal.shambhala.org.

Media contact only: Karen Pierce Gonzalez Public Relations, 707-792-4376

7 pm, Thurs., May 26, Moderated by Michael Krasny
Nob Hill Masonic Center, 1111 California Street, San Francisco