Questions answered during our Q&A session:

4:25 I have 2 questions. 1. I’ve been feeling financial pressure for a while. I’m wondering if there are any practices/dedications/prayers etc. that may assist the ripening of fortunate/favourable material conditions in my life. 2. Perhaps more of a personal question, just curious to know more about your experience as a nun, what it was like, what you learned in your time as a monastic and what brought you back to lay life.

25:43 What are your thoughts on Buddhists learning nonlethal forms of self-defense like martial arts? For the last six months, I’ve been teaching myself Bojutsu, a form of martial arts that involves the use of a bo staff. Although the staff can be used offensively as a weapon, I mostly use it to learn blocking and counterstrike. As an American, it’s my constitutional duty and right to own a firearm, protected by our 2nd amendment. However this strictly contradicts my spiritual duty as a Buddhist to practice nonkilling and I don’t wish to use self-defense mechanisms that could potentially kill someone even if they’re threatening my own life. Is there a case to be made that Buddhists learn self-defense as a way to protect themselves and others? Also, would you consider self-preservation as showing compassion towards oneself? I’d love to hear your advice on how to go about this moral conundrum.

38:30 I have a question concerning my professional life as a doctor I have already asked in similar forms before but that is still an ongoing issue for me. I have an almost neurotic fear of making a grave mistake or overlooking a diagnosis that in consequence might be life changing/ shortening and so influencing someone’s life and that of his family and friends negatively. I try to be as thorough as possible and am doing my best but as I am human there is a good chance this might happen in the future. In the past, at times when I was afraid this might have already happened I felt a very heavy weight and guilt in my heart and wondered if I really have the right to feel ever happy in life again when I have caused so much sorrow. As far as I know I have been lucky so far but the danger is always there. How do you see the Buddhist view on guilt and how to deal with it?