Dr. Stephen Fulder—founder of Tovana, longtime Buddhist teacher, author of What’s Beyond Mindfulness and The Five Powers, and co-founder of the ecological spiritual community Clil—returns to RAW two years after becoming the show’s very first guest.

Together we explore the emotional and spiritual landscape of Israel since October 7th: the rise of fear and tribalism, the exhaustion many of us carry, and the human tendency to collapse into constricted narratives when we feel threatened.

Stephen offers a grounded, compassionate invitation to widen the space inside us, meet fear without letting it become a worldview, and reconnect with the deeper sources of clarity, resilience and humanity that live within us.

We talk about:

•⁠ ⁠How fear shapes our identity and our politics

•⁠ ⁠Why societies contract into “us vs. them”

•⁠ ⁠Meditation as a practical way to create inner spaciousness

•⁠ ⁠Compassion for Israelis, Palestinians, and ourselves

•⁠ ⁠The role of spiritual activism today

•⁠ ⁠How ecological, grounded living supports psychological resilience

This is a conversation about staying human—tender, courageous, and open—in a moment when the world pushes us toward contraction.

If this episode resonates, please follow RAW, leave a review, and share it with someone who might need a breath of clarity today.

*More about Stephen: *

Dr. Stephen Fulder is one of the pioneers of Buddhist practice in Israel. Born in London in 1946, he studied at Oxford, completed his PhD at the National Institute for Medical Research, and went on to write fourteen books while spending nearly five decades exploring alternative medicine and spiritual life. Since 1976, he has been a devoted practitioner of Theravada Buddhism, enriched by Dzogchen and Advaita teachings.

He is the founder and senior teacher of Tovana, the Israel Insight Meditation Society—now the country’s largest Buddhist practice organization, offering more than 45 retreats a year. He also helped establish Mashiv Nefesh, and the ecological spiritual community of Clil, where he lives, grows his own food and medicines, teaches, and continues his long-standing commitment to peace work between Israelis and Palestinians. His books include the bestseller What’s Beyond Mindfulness and The Five Powers.