Ep. 285 – Engaged Compassion: Anu Gupta

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Apr 28, 2026

Anu Gupta, educator, lawyer, meditation teacher and founder of Be More with Anu, blends spiritual practice with social change. He discusses cultivating goodwill, holding anger without becoming it, somatic mindfulness, teachings from the Bhagavad Gita, equanimity for political suffering, boundaries with media, and how varied acts of activism sustain long-term engagement.

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INSIGHT

Near Enemies In Activism

Near enemies of lovingkindness and compassion show up as attachment, sentimentality, pity, or burnout that mimic the virtues.
Anu argues activism needs wisdom plus compassion to avoid attachment to specific outcomes and crushing disappointment.

ADVICE

Act Without Attachment To Outcomes

Do act without attachment to outcomes, embodying the Gita's teaching to act nobly without clinging to results.
Anu cites successful social movements that combined nonattachment with sustained moral effort.

ADVICE

Use Equanimity To Respect Agency

Do cultivate equanimity by acknowledging karma and personal agency: each being owns their thoughts, words, and actions.
Anu learned this framing from Joseph Goldstein and uses equanimity to avoid over-identifying with others' outcomes.

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The Buddha taught a path of awakened living, but how does that manifest in today’s world of constant connectivity and widespread suffering? How do we keep our hearts open without being defined or hardened by the pain that surrounds us, whether personal, collective, or historical? How do we navigate the paradox of holding both pain and joy, without mistaking suffering for punishment or personal failure? Can we infuse our compassion with wisdom and perspective to find the agency to take meaningful action in our communities? In her new series, Engaged Compassion, Sharon delves into these questions and more, engaging in candid conversations with a diverse group of teachers, activists, and changemakers.

For the third episode in the series, Sharon speaks with Anu Gupta, marking his fourth appearance on the Metta Hour. Anu Gupta is an educator, lawyer, scientist, and the founder and CEO of Be More with Anu. His work has reached 300+ organizations, trained more than 80,000 professionals, and impacted over 30 million lives. As a gay immigrant of color, Anu came to the work of breaking bias due to lifelong experiences with racism, homophobia, and Islamophobia. He is a trained meditation and yoga teacher with over 10,000 hours of meditation practice and has a JD from NYU Law and BA in International Relations and Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies. As a peer-reviewed author, Anu has written and spoken extensively, including on the TED stage, the Oprah Conversation, Fast Company, and Newsweek. His first book, “Breaking Bias” came out in 2024 from Hay House and he currently shares his writings via his Substack, Soul Force for the 21st Century.

In this conversation, Sharon and Anu speak about:

How to cultivate goodwill
Bearing witness to suffering
Working with anger and delusion
Teachings from the Bhagavad Gita
Compassion’s near and far enemies
Non-attachment in activism
Joseph Goldstein’s essential teachings
Equanimity in practice
Combining the spiritual, personal, and political
Collective consciousness as an ocean
Wisdom from Margaret Mead, Gandhi, and MLK Jr.
Boundaries around media
Buddha’s five remedies for anger
The lifelines of Sangha (community)

Additional Resources

To close out the episode, Anu leads a guided meditation. You can learn more about Anu’s work right here and check out his Substack writings right here.

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