TEDWomen 2010
Elizabeth Lesser: Take "the Other" to lunch
伊麗莎白雷瑟：請你的“對手”吃午餐
Filmed:
Readability: 4
1,460,477 views
目前的政治情勢因爲激烈的分化和對立快要走進死胡同裏。伊麗莎白雷瑟闡述，這種對立是因爲人性内含的多重性格（她稱之爲“神秘家”和“戰士”）所造成的。她並和我們分享了她個人一個簡單的方法來開啓一段對話--請你的“對手”，那些你不認同的人去吃午餐，並問他們三個問題，進而了解他們心中真正的想法。
Elizabeth Lesser - Wellness specialist
Elizabeth Lesser helps her readers and students transform their lives after brushes with pain, adversity and life's myriad problems. Full bio
Elizabeth Lesser helps her readers and students transform their lives after brushes with pain, adversity and life's myriad problems. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
This room may appear
0
0
2000
這個禮堂看起來
00:17
to be holding 600 people,
1
2000
2000
可以容納600個人
00:19
but there's actually so many more,
2
4000
2000
但事實上可以更多
00:21
because in each one of us
3
6000
2000
因爲我們每一個人裏面
00:23
there is a multitude of personalities.
4
8000
3000
都有不止一個的我（性格）。
00:26
I have two primary personalities
5
11000
3000
我有兩個主要的性格
00:29
that have been in conflict and conversation within me
6
14000
2000
從我還是小女孩的時候
00:31
since I was a little girl.
7
16000
2000
這兩個性格就常在我内心裏相互衝突和對話
00:33
I call them "the mystic"
8
18000
2000
我把這兩個性格一個叫“神秘家”
00:35
and "the warrior."
9
20000
2000
一個叫“戰士”
00:37
I was born into a family
10
22000
2000
我從小生在一個
00:39
of politically active,
11
24000
2000
在政治上活躍
00:41
intellectual atheists.
12
26000
2000
無神論的家庭裏。
00:43
There was this equation in my family that went something like this:
13
28000
3000
家裏有以下的認知：
00:46
if you are intelligent,
14
31000
2000
你如果有智慧
00:48
you therefore are not spiritual.
15
33000
3000
那你就不該相信靈性的東西。
00:51
I was the freak of the family.
16
36000
2000
我是家裏的怪胎
00:53
I was this weird little kid
17
38000
2000
我是一個怪小孩
00:55
who wanted to have deep talks
18
40000
2000
喜歡深入地探討
00:57
about the worlds that might exist
19
42000
3000
這個我們感觸不到
01:00
beyond the ones that we perceive with our senses.
20
45000
3000
但是可能存在的世界。
01:03
I wanted to know
21
48000
2000
我想知道
01:05
if what we human beings see
22
50000
2000
我們人類
01:07
and hear and think
23
52000
3000
所看所聼所想的
01:10
is a full and accurate picture
24
55000
2000
是不是跟事實的真相
01:12
of reality.
25
57000
2000
一模一樣？
01:14
So, looking for answers,
26
59000
2000
爲了找尋答案
01:16
I went to Catholic mass.
27
61000
2000
我去了參加天主教的彌撒
01:18
I tagged along with my neighbors.
28
63000
2000
我跟著我的鄰居一起去的。
01:20
I read Sartre and Socrates.
29
65000
2000
我讀沙特和蘇格拉底。
01:22
And then a wonderful thing happened
30
67000
2000
後來發生了一件美妙的事：
01:24
when I was in high school:
31
69000
2000
在我高中的時候
01:26
Gurus from the East
32
71000
2000
從東方來的精神導師
01:28
started washing up on the shores of America.
33
73000
3000
開始來到了美國。
01:31
And I said to myself,
34
76000
2000
我跟我自己說
01:33
"I wanna get me one of them."
35
78000
2000
“我也想跟一個導師學習。”
01:35
And ever since,
36
80000
2000
從此以後
01:37
I've been walking the mystic path,
37
82000
3000
我就走上探索神秘靈性的道路
01:40
trying to peer beyond
38
85000
2000
試著去窺探
01:42
what Albert Einstein called
39
87000
2000
超越那個愛因斯坦所謂的
01:44
"the optical delusion
40
89000
2000
“日常生活意識的
01:46
of everyday consciousness."
41
91000
3000
光學幻象”。
01:49
So what did he mean by this? I'll show you.
42
94000
3000
他這麽說是什麽意思？接下來我會告訴你
01:52
Take a breath right now
43
97000
2000
大家先吸一口
01:54
of this clear air in this room.
44
99000
3000
這禮堂裏清淨的空氣。
01:58
Now, see this strange,
45
103000
3000
現在，看看這裡這個奇怪的
02:01
underwater,
46
106000
3000
像是水底下
02:04
coral reef-looking thing?
47
109000
2000
珊瑚礁的東西？
02:06
It's actually a person's trachea,
48
111000
3000
這事實上是人的氣管末梢分支。
02:09
and those colored globs
49
114000
2000
還有這些彩色的像泥巴的東西
02:11
are microbes
50
116000
2000
是微生物
02:13
that are actually swimming around in this room
51
118000
2000
他們懸浮在空氣間
02:15
right now, all around us.
52
120000
3000
此時此刻，就在我們的身邊。
02:18
If we're blind to this simple biology,
53
123000
3000
如果光對這簡單的生物學我們都看不出來
02:21
imagine what we're missing
54
126000
3000
那麽去想想
02:24
at the smallest subatomic level right now
55
129000
3000
在最小的原子和最大的宇宙之間
02:27
and at the grandest cosmic levels.
56
132000
3000
我們看不到的東西有多少？
02:30
My years as a mystic
57
135000
3000
我追尋靈性的過程中
02:33
have made me question
58
138000
2000
讓我對所有的假設
02:35
almost all my assumptions.
59
140000
2000
都產生疑問。
02:37
They've made me a proud I-don't-know-it-all.
60
142000
3000
這些年來我對我的“不全然知道”挺感驕傲。
02:41
Now when the mystic part of me
61
146000
2000
當那個神秘家的我
02:43
jabbers on and on like this,
62
148000
2000
像這樣滔滔不絕地講個不完的時候
02:45
the warrior rolls her eyes.
63
150000
3000
戰士的我會（聼不下去）看別的地方。
02:48
She's concerned
64
153000
3000
她很關心
02:51
about what's happening in this world right now.
65
156000
3000
現時當下的世間發生的大小事。
02:55
She's worried.
66
160000
2000
她很擔心
02:57
She says, "Excuse me, I'm pissed off,
67
162000
3000
她說，“對不起，我很不高興
03:00
and I know a few things,
68
165000
2000
我是知道一些事的，
03:02
and we better get busy about them right now."
69
167000
2000
而且我們最好現在就認真地來處理這些事。”
03:04
I've spent my life as a warrior,
70
169000
2000
我這一輩子活得像一個戰士
03:06
working for women's issues,
71
171000
2000
為女性議題來奮戰
03:08
working on political campaigns,
72
173000
3000
從事政治活動
03:11
being an activist for the environment.
73
176000
3000
也還是環保運動的活躍分子。
03:14
And it can be sort of crazy-making,
74
179000
3000
在我的體内
03:17
housing both the mystic and the warrior
75
182000
2000
有神祕家和戰士共存
03:19
in one body.
76
184000
2000
這看起來是聼瘋狂的。
03:21
I've always been attracted
77
186000
3000
有少數的特種個性的人
03:24
to those rare people
78
189000
2000
深深地吸引著我
03:26
who pull that off,
79
191000
2000
這種人能在競賽中勝出，
03:28
who devote their lives to humanity
80
193000
2000
將他們的生命奉獻給人類
03:30
with the grit of the warrior
81
195000
2000
還有著戰士般的膽量
03:32
and the grace of the mystic --
82
197000
3000
和神秘家的優雅--
03:35
people like Martin Luther King, Jr.,
83
200000
3000
像馬丁路德金
03:38
who wrote, "I can never be
84
203000
2000
他曾寫過，“在你沒成爲
03:40
what I ought to be
85
205000
2000
你該成爲的人之前，
03:42
until you are
86
207000
2000
我也無法成爲
03:44
what you ought to be.
87
209000
2000
我該成爲的人。“
03:46
This," he wrote, "is the interrelated structure
88
211000
3000
他寫道，”這就是
03:49
of reality."
89
214000
2000
有著交錯盤結結構的現實。“
03:51
Then Mother Teresa, another mystic warrior,
90
216000
3000
泰瑞沙修女，另一個神秘的戰士
03:54
who said, "The problem with the world
91
219000
3000
她說，“這世界的問題
03:57
is that we draw the circle of our family
92
222000
3000
皆起因于我們把家庭的範圍
04:00
too small."
93
225000
2000
定義得太小。”
04:02
And Nelson Mandela,
94
227000
2000
曼德拉
04:04
who lives by the African concept
95
229000
2000
他按照一種非洲的觀念在生活
04:06
of "ubuntu,"
96
231000
2000
“烏班圖（ubuntu）”
04:08
which means "I need you
97
233000
2000
意思是沒有了你
04:10
in order to be me,
98
235000
2000
我就無法成爲我，
04:12
and you need me in order to be you."
99
237000
3000
而你也需要我，來成就你自己。
04:15
Now we all love to trot out
100
240000
2000
我們都很喜歡誇讚
04:17
these three mystic warriors
101
242000
2000
這三個神秘的戰士
04:19
as if they were born
102
244000
2000
他們好像與生俱來
04:21
with the saint gene.
103
246000
2000
都有聖人的基因。
04:23
But we all actually have
104
248000
2000
但事實上我們也都有能力
04:25
the same capacity that they do,
105
250000
3000
做他們做的事，
04:28
and we need to do
106
253000
2000
而現在我們也應該
04:30
their work now.
107
255000
2000
做他們做的事。
04:32
I'm deeply disturbed
108
257000
2000
但是我對最近的情勢發展深感憂慮
04:34
by the ways in which all of our cultures
109
259000
3000
在各個不同的文化間
04:37
are demonizing "the Other"
110
262000
3000
藉著批判來凸顯
04:40
by the voice we're giving
111
265000
2000
我們互相間差異最多的地方
04:42
to the most divisive among us.
112
267000
3000
和將對方惡魔化。
04:45
Listen to these titles
113
270000
2000
看看最近這些暢銷書的標題
04:47
of some of the bestselling books
114
272000
2000
在政黨對立下的美國
04:49
from both sides of the political divide
115
274000
2000
代表對立兩方的立場
04:51
here in the U.S.
116
276000
2000
暢銷書的標題：
04:53
"Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder,"
117
278000
3000
“自由主義是精神障礙”
04:56
"Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot,"
118
281000
3000
“Rush Limbaugh 是個大肥白痴”
04:59
"Pinheads and Patriots,"
119
284000
3000
“笨蛋和愛國者”
05:02
"Arguing With Idiots."
120
287000
2000
“和白痴講道理”
05:04
They're supposedly tongue-in-cheek,
121
289000
2000
他們是為了達到幽默和諷刺的效果
05:06
but they're actually dangerous.
122
291000
3000
但這是有危險性的。
05:09
Now here's a title that may sound familiar,
123
294000
2000
這跟下面的這本書的標題聼起來很類似
05:11
but whose author may surprise you:
124
296000
3000
但是知道作者的話你們會大吃一驚：
05:14
"Four-and-a-Half-Years of Struggle
125
299000
2000
“四年半的
05:16
Against Lies, Stupidity
126
301000
2000
對抗謊言、愚昧
05:18
and Cowardice."
127
303000
2000
及對抗懦弱的抗爭。”
05:20
Who wrote that?
128
305000
2000
這是誰寫的？
05:22
That was Adolf Hitler's first title
129
307000
2000
這是希特勒寫的
05:24
for "Mein Kampf" -- "My Struggle" --
130
309000
3000
“Mein Kamp(我的奮鬥)”的原先標題
05:27
the book that launched the Nazi party.
131
312000
3000
就是這本書策動了納粹黨。
05:30
The worst eras in human history,
132
315000
2000
人類最黑暗的歷史時期裏
05:32
whether in Cambodia or Germany
133
317000
2000
不管在柬埔寨、德國
05:34
or Rwanda,
134
319000
2000
或是盧安達
05:36
they start like this, with negative other-izing.
135
321000
3000
都是從負面地分化你我開始
05:39
And then they morph
136
324000
2000
接著演化到
05:41
into violent extremism.
137
326000
3000
暴力的極端主義。
05:44
This is why I'm launching a new initiative.
138
329000
3000
這也就是爲什麽我要發起一個新的提議
05:47
And it's to help all of us,
139
332000
3000
來幫助大家
05:50
myself included,
140
335000
2000
包括我自己
05:52
to counteract the tendency
141
337000
2000
來跟這種負面的分化
05:54
to "otherize."
142
339000
2000
相互抗衡。
05:56
And I realize we're all busy people,
143
341000
3000
我也了解大家都很忙
05:59
so don't worry, you can do this on a lunch break.
144
344000
3000
所以，別擔心，這是午餐休息時間内就可以做的。
06:02
I'm calling my initiative,
145
347000
2000
我把這個新的提議叫做
06:04
"Take the Other to Lunch."
146
349000
3000
“請對手一同吃午餐”
06:07
If you are
147
352000
2000
如果你是
06:09
a Republican,
148
354000
2000
共和黨員
06:11
you can take a Democrat to lunch,
149
356000
3000
你可以請一個民主黨員吃午餐
06:14
or if you're a Democrat,
150
359000
3000
或者，你是民主黨員
06:17
think of it
151
362000
2000
你可以考慮
06:19
as taking a Republican to lunch.
152
364000
2000
請個共和黨員吃午餐。
06:21
Now if the idea of taking any of these people to lunch
153
366000
3000
要是請以上這些人吃午餐的想法
06:24
makes you lose your appetite,
154
369000
3000
讓你胃口盡失
06:27
I suggest you start more local,
155
372000
3000
我建議你可以從身邊做起
06:30
because there is no shortage of the Other
156
375000
3000
因爲我們永遠有很多“對手”
06:33
right in your own neighborhood.
157
378000
3000
就在你的左右。
06:36
Maybe that person
158
381000
2000
這個人
06:38
who worships at the mosque,
159
383000
2000
可能是去清真寺禮拜的回教徒；
06:40
or the church or the synagogue, down the street.
160
385000
3000
或是猶太教徒；
06:43
Or someone from the other side
161
388000
2000
或是在墮胎合法化上
06:45
of the abortion conflict.
162
390000
3000
跟你持不同立場的人；
06:48
Or maybe your brother-in-law
163
393000
2000
也可能是你的那個
06:50
who doesn't believe in global warming.
164
395000
3000
不相信全球暖化的小舅子；
06:53
Anyone whose lifestyle may frighten you,
165
398000
5000
或者生活方式讓你害怕的人；
06:58
or whose point of view
166
403000
2000
或是那個論調會讓你
07:00
makes smoke come out of your ears.
167
405000
3000
氣得七竅生煙的人；
07:04
A couple of weeks ago,
168
409000
2000
幾個星期前
07:06
I took a Conservative Tea Party woman to lunch.
169
411000
4000
我請一個茶葉黨的女士去吃午餐
07:11
Now on paper, she passed my smoking ears test.
170
416000
3000
看看報紙上她的言論，是夠讓我七竅生煙的。
07:15
She's an activist from the Right,
171
420000
2000
她是右派的活躍分子
07:17
and I'm an activist from the Left.
172
422000
3000
我是左派的活躍分子
07:21
And we used some guidelines
173
426000
2000
我們約定了一些原則
07:23
to keep our conversation elevated,
174
428000
2000
使我們的談話能愉快地進行
07:25
and you can use them too,
175
430000
2000
你們也可以套用這些原則，
07:27
because I know you're all going
176
432000
2000
因爲我知道
07:29
to take an Other to lunch.
177
434000
2000
你們也都會跟“對手”去吃午餐。
07:31
So first of all, decide on a goal:
178
436000
3000
首先，決定一個目標：
07:34
to get to know one person
179
439000
2000
你要去認識一個
07:36
from a group you may have negatively stereotyped.
180
441000
4000
刻板印象十分負面的團體裏面的一個人。
07:41
And then, before you get together,
181
446000
2000
再來，見面以前
07:43
agree on some ground rules.
182
448000
2000
先講好一些規則。
07:45
My Tea Party lunchmate and I
183
450000
3000
我跟那個茶葉黨女士
07:48
came up with these:
184
453000
2000
是這麽約定的：
07:50
don't persuade, defend
185
455000
2000
不去說服、答辯
07:52
or interrupt.
186
457000
2000
或打斷對方。
07:54
Be curious;
187
459000
2000
要對對方有好奇心
07:56
be conversational; be real.
188
461000
2000
要維持會話的進行，還要真誠
07:58
And listen.
189
463000
2000
還有注意傾聽。
08:00
From there, we dove in.
190
465000
2000
我們從這幾個點切入。
08:02
And we used these questions:
191
467000
2000
我們問了這樣的問題：
08:04
Share some of your life experiences with me.
192
469000
3000
請跟我分享你的一些經驗。
08:07
What issues
193
472000
2000
有什麽議題
08:09
deeply concern you?
194
474000
2000
讓你十分牽挂？
08:11
And what have you always wanted to ask
195
476000
2000
有什麽問題是你一直想問
08:13
someone from the other side?
196
478000
3000
對方陣營的嗎？
08:16
My lunch partner and I
197
481000
2000
吃完午餐後，
08:18
came away with some really important insights,
198
483000
2000
我的午餐伴和我得到了一些啓示
08:20
and I'm going to share just one with you.
199
485000
3000
我現在要來跟你們分享。
08:23
I think it has relevance
200
488000
2000
因爲我覺得這跟世上
08:25
to any problem
201
490000
2000
任何人、任何問題
08:27
between people anywhere.
202
492000
2000
都有關。
08:29
I asked her why her side
203
494000
3000
我問她，為什麽她的陣營
08:32
makes such outrageous allegations
204
497000
2000
捏造出這些不實的指控和謊言
08:34
and lies about my side.
205
499000
3000
加諸在我們這邊。
08:37
"What?" she wanted to know.
206
502000
2000
“譬如說呢？”她想知道。
08:39
"Like we're a bunch
207
504000
2000
“像，我們是一票
08:41
of elitist,
208
506000
2000
道德淪喪，又喜歡恐怖分子的
08:43
morally-corrupt terrorist-lovers."
209
508000
2000
精英分子。”
08:45
Well, she was shocked.
210
510000
2000
她十分的震驚
08:47
She thought my side
211
512000
2000
她以爲我們更常
08:49
beat up on her side way more often,
212
514000
3000
放話攻擊他們，
08:52
that we called them brainless,
213
517000
2000
像，我們說他們沒大腦
08:54
gun-toting racists,
214
519000
3000
是崇拜槍支的種族主義者。
08:57
and we both marveled
215
522000
2000
我們兩邊都很吃驚
08:59
at the labels that fit
216
524000
2000
因爲這些標簽
09:01
none of the people
217
526000
2000
跟我們認識的對方
09:03
we actually know.
218
528000
2000
完全不符合。
09:05
And since we had established some trust,
219
530000
2000
因爲我們互相建立起了一些信任
09:07
we believed in each other's sincerity.
220
532000
3000
我們相信對方的誠意。
09:11
We agreed we'd speak up in our own communities
221
536000
3000
我們同意下一次
09:14
when we witnessed
222
539000
2000
在自己的陣營裏聽到
09:16
the kind of "otherizing" talk
223
541000
2000
這種分化人們的言論時
09:18
that can wound
224
543000
2000
要出言制止
09:20
and fester into paranoia
225
545000
2000
因爲這類的言論會傷人
09:22
and then be used by those on the fringes
226
547000
3000
製造偏執，而進而被偏激分子
09:25
to incite.
227
550000
2000
用來煽動人群。
09:27
By the end of our lunch,
228
552000
2000
在午餐結束的時候
09:29
we acknowledged each other's openness.
229
554000
2000
我們互相肯定了對方開誠佈公的態度
09:31
Neither of us had tried to change the other.
230
556000
3000
我們沒有試著要去改變對方。
09:34
But we also hadn't pretended
231
559000
3000
我們也沒有假裝說
09:37
that our differences were just going to melt away
232
562000
3000
吃一頓午餐後，我們之間的差異
09:40
after a lunch.
233
565000
2000
就可以煙消雲散。
09:45
Instead, we had taken
234
570000
2000
我們各往前邁了一部
09:47
first steps together,
235
572000
2000
放下了以前立即反擊的
09:49
past our knee-jerk reactions,
236
574000
2000
反射性保衛
09:51
to the ubuntu place,
237
576000
2000
來到烏班圖（ubuntu）的境界
09:53
which is the only place
238
578000
2000
這也是唯一一個
09:55
where solutions
239
580000
2000
互動良好
09:57
to our most intractable-seeming problems
240
582000
4000
能夠找到解決問題的方法
10:01
will be found.
241
586000
2000
的地方。
10:03
Who should you invite to lunch?
242
588000
3000
那麽，你該邀誰來午餐？
10:06
Next time you catch yourself
243
591000
2000
下一囘你發現自己
10:08
in the act of otherizing,
244
593000
2000
把他人當作非我族類時
10:10
that will be your clue.
245
595000
2000
這就是個很好的指標。
10:12
And what might happen at your lunch?
246
597000
3000
所以，你吃完這頓午餐後有什麽會改變？
10:15
Will the heavens open
247
600000
2000
天堂的門會大開
10:17
and "We Are the World" play over the restaurant sound system?
248
602000
3000
餐廳的音響還會同時播放“四海一家”嗎？
10:20
Probably not.
249
605000
2000
大概不會。
10:22
Because ubuntu work is slow,
250
607000
2000
因爲要達到烏班圖的過程是漫長的
10:24
and it's difficult.
251
609000
2000
也是十分困難的。
10:26
It's two people
252
611000
2000
這需要兩個人
10:28
dropping the pretense
253
613000
2000
同時放下
10:30
of being know-it-alls.
254
615000
2000
“我什麽都知道”的成見。
10:32
It's two people,
255
617000
2000
這需要兩個人
10:34
two warriors,
256
619000
2000
兩個戰士
10:36
dropping their weapons
257
621000
2000
放下他們的武器
10:38
and reaching toward each other.
258
623000
3000
同時向對方邁出一步。
10:41
Here's how the great Persian poet Rumi put it:
259
626000
3000
偉大的波斯詩人盧米曾這麽寫過：
10:45
"Out beyond ideas
260
630000
3000
“放下這些
10:48
of wrong-doing and right-doing,
261
633000
3000
誰對誰錯的成見，
10:51
there is a field.
262
636000
2000
在這之外，有一個地方
10:53
I'll meet you there."
263
638000
2000
讓我們在那裏相見吧。”
10:55
(Applause)
264
640000
7000
（掌聲）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Elizabeth Lesser - Wellness specialistElizabeth Lesser helps her readers and students transform their lives after brushes with pain, adversity and life's myriad problems.
Why you should listen
Elizabeth Lesser is a bestselling author and the cofounder of Omega Institute, the renowned conference and retreat center located in Rhinebeck, New York. Lesser's first book, The Seeker's Guide, chronicles her years at Omega and distills lessons learned into a potent guide for growth and healing. Her New York Times bestselling book, Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow (Random House), has sold more than 300,000 copies and has been translated into 20 languages. Her latest book, Marrow: A Love Story (Harper Collins/September 2016), is a memoir about Elizabeth and her younger sister, Maggie, and the process they went through when Elizabeth was the donor for Maggie’s bone marrow transplant.
Lesser cofounded Omega Institute in 1977 -- a time when a variety of fresh ideas were sprouting in American culture. Since then, the institute has been at the forefront of holistic education, offering workshops and trainings in: integrative medicine, prevention, nutrition, and the mind/body connection; meditation and yoga; cross-cultural arts and creativity; ecumenical spirituality; and social change movements like women's empowerment and environmental sustainability. Lesser is also the cofounder of Omega's Women's Leadership Center, which grew out of the popular Women & Power conference series featuring women leaders, activists, authors and artists from around the world. Each year more than 30,000 people participate in Omega's programs on its campus in Rhinebeck, New York and at urban and travel sites, and more than a million people visit its website for online learning.
A student of the Sufi master, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, for many years, Lesser has also studied with spiritual teachers, healers, psychologists and philosophers from other traditions. In 2008 she helped Oprah Winfrey produce a ten-week online seminar based on Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth. The webinar was viewed by more than 8 million people worldwide. She was a frequent host on Oprah's "Soul Series," a weekly radio show on Sirius/XM, and a guest on Oprah's "Super Soul Sunday." In 2011, she gave a TED Talk, "Take 'the Other' to lunch ," in which she called for civility and understanding as we negotiate our differences as human beings.
Lesser attended Barnard College, where she studied literature, and San Francisco State University, where she received a teaching degree. In 2011 she received an honorary doctorate from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, in Palo Alto, California. Early in her career she was a midwife and birth educator. Today, besides writing and her work at Omega Institute, she lends her time to social and environmental causes and is an avid walker, cook and gardener. She lives with her family in New York's Hudson River Valley.
Elizabeth Lesser | Speaker | TED.com