The 4 Questions that Help Guide Great Decisions

Wisdom from my favorite Buddhist teacher for navigating stressful moments.

We were just minutes from descent to Australian soil when the pilot came over the audio to make an announcement.

“Sorry folks, we’re going to have to circle for a while — all air traffic into Sydney is on hold due to a lightning storm.”

We ended up circling to the north of Sydney for about an hour. Each time the storm came into view, any irritation I felt about the delay melted. It looked like a cartoon storm writ large: spectacular, wild and alive with lightning. “Let’s definitely not fly into that,” I thought.

With extra time on my hands, I reached for my favorite meditation teacher Tara Brach’s podcast, where she shares beautiful guided meditations and potent lectures on topics including spirituality, buddhism and activism.

The title “Four Spiritual Inquiries: Finding Heart Wisdom in Painful Times” leapt out at me for some reason. And it was so powerful, I found myself jotting notes.

The episode explores how, when we are experiencing a strong stress response, we can use powerful questions to guide us towards wisdom and away from reactivity.