Buddhist Teacher Scott Tusa: ReRooted – Ep. 45 – Getting Real About Fake Woke Bros

Francesca Maximé: WiseGirl

On this episode of ReRooted, Buddhist meditation teacher Scott Tusa joins Francesca Maximé to talk about toxic masculinity, spiritual bypassing, and getting real about fake woke bros. Scott Tusa is a Buddhist meditation teacher based in the United States. Ordained by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, he spent nine years as a Buddhist monk, with much of that time engaged in solitary meditation retreat and study in the United States, India, and Nepal. He teaches meditation and Buddhist psychology internationally in group and one-to-one settings, and supports Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s Pundarika Sangha as a practice advisor. Learn more about Scott at https://scotttusa.com/ Buddhist Tantra Francesca welcomes Scott, who talks about the large feminine wisdom principle within his tradition of Buddhism. They discuss race versus ethnicity, and the importance of developing an ancestor practice. Scott explores how Buddhist Tantra differs from the Westernized form of Tantra, which tends to focus on sexual energy. “Definitely in Buddhist Tantra, of course, we use our sexual energy within the path, we’re not denying that, but it’s not really centered as the main thing. The main thing is understanding how the mind creates suffering, and how to unwind that suffering within the mind.” – Scott Tusa Ram Dass talks about Devotional Tantra on Here and Now Ep. 153 Getting Real About Fake Woke Bros (16:35) Francesca and Scott touch on bringing more feminine energy into the world, wisdom versus skillful means, and how late stage capitalism fuels toxic masculinity. Francesca explores the concept of spiritual bypassing, and how bro culture has hit the spiritual scene. Scott talks about how men can help other men become real allies for women. “We need to find ways to re-humanize, and it’s really hard because when there’s heavy competitiveness, this is, to me, such a distortion of masculinity.” – Scott Tusa Absolute Versus Relative (32:17) Francesca and Scott discuss shifting resistance to the feminine. They talk about the idea of transcendence when it comes to race, absolute truth versus relative truth, and how self-compassion allows us to show up for others. The idea is waking up from the inside out, and we can all do this work of stepping on the path. “Transcendence doesn’t mean transcending the whole thing, it means waking up through seeing clearly how reality is existing.” – Scott Tusa Check out Francesca’s anti-racism and mindfulness resources at maximeclarity.com