Arlene Samen Has Been a Nurse Practitioner in Maternal Fetal M

took this lesson and you taught them abundance. Are the girls still in Tibet?

Arlene: They are all in Tibet. And the two that graduated high school will soon be applying to go to University. One of the girls may end up going to the University of Lhasa, or right outside of Lhasa. And I'm not sure if the other will end up in Mainland China. Once they apply and attend school over there, I'm going to see if I can get them to come to school in the US. But it is very difficult for them to get a visa to leave Tibet.

Ameeta: So you are not able to see them while they are in Tibet?

Arlene: The only way I can see them is to meet them in Mainland China—which we have done. We also Skype with each other.

The Strength That Comes from Knowing We Are All One

Audrey: In a way it is like you have no fear of what could come down the road and no sense of scarcity. What gives you that expansiveness to take the time to engage in that way?

Arlene: It's quiet simple. I absolutely know that we are all one, and that God loves through me and that there is no lack of love. Those living in scarcity are me. They are all of us. They are a part of us. I grew up in poverty and yet my mother always made us believe that we had everything. Even though we had nothing. I thought I had everything. And I did. Because what do we all ultimately need? We need to be a part of a community and loved. There is no lack of that. We can always tap into that—always!

Maybe I don't have money to give a beggar, but often I will stop, look them in the eye and acknowledge and vow to them.

Audrey: Would you describe your childhood?

Arlene: We lived in a two-bedroom apartment with all three kids in one room, which we loved and all the animals that were there, the cardinal birds and the robins. I just thought they were all part of the grounds that I had to care for. I would take food out to the animals and I would just meet with anybody and everybody!

I remember there was a man that was alone and he would feed the squirrels and all the children were afraid of him, but me. I would just go and sit on the bench and learn how to feed the squirrels. He, in my mind, was the caretaker of the animals. So I just had this whole thing I had made up—that we lived in Buckingham Palace! And it was all a part of the grounds, all of the apartments and streams and the trees. And it was expansive. If you ever saw the movie Life is Beautiful, my mom was that person—in a way she believed we were in a play. We would get a cardboard box and just think, look at all the things we could do with this! We could make a house! We could make it into a train! I never felt a lack of anything.

Audrey: What gives you the ability to be fearless?

Arlene: My faith. My connection with the God I am inside of me. Whether it is my Buddha nature or God, or that Life Force.

Ameeta: Are you a meditator?

Arlene: I am. I could meditate far more than I do. It was funny, the other day a girlfriend asked me how much time I spend practicing? And I said every single moment of my life. Every breath I take.

Audrey: How does spirituality influence you in your work? You carry such a strong conviction. What is your spiritual practice?

Arlene: Well, I was raised Christian and by a mother who absolutely under all circumstances, no matter what, has believed that things were in Divine Order. And when I was really young I studied Eastern Philosophy and Buddhism. I didn't truly understand Buddha nature at that time but it just seemed to be a part of who I was. I can't remember a time when I wasn't connected to a higher power. Even as a child. In fact, I remember when I was about 10 years old—that I had this sense that I had a conversation with Jesus. Knowing I had no fear of death. I've never had a fear of dying. I just have always felt protected. And even more and more knowing that when I am anxious or fearful, that those are the moments that I feel separate from my spiritual practice. The God that I am, the Buddha that I am. When I forget that, that's when I lose who I am. It is very important to stay connected to that. I do that through acts of service. That keeps me connected.

Audrey: What is on the horizon for you? Where do you feel like you want to focus your time and energy now?

Arlene: I'll continue to work with One Heart, but I'm also studying right now to work with patients with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and end of life care. I'm very motivated to continue my path reducing suffering in our world. It is where I have a lot of compassion. Especially with our soldiers that come back from war. They've witnessed so much violence and committed violence.

Audrey: Have you had a chance to work or interact with any of those soldiers?

Arlene: Not yet. I'm early in my course and right now we are watching a lot of videos of teaching working with PTSD soldiers.

Audrey: How is it to come back to the U.S?

Arlene: I'm incredibly grateful yet sometimes very sad. In a way having to navigate my feelings of knowing that I've left—that I've left behind people that are suffering. For example, after the earthquake in Nepal, I came home but my staff and villages were there without anything. So sometimes I struggle with how best to deal with my own emotions around that and realize that what I am doing here will serve them greater than me being there. I feel sorry for them but it haunts me to think about that when I can come to a place where I do feel safe. And that I have everything. A roof over my head and food and everything else and that I am leaving behind people who don't have that. I struggle with that. I want everybody to have everything.

Ameeta: You live from your heart, you live from love without fear and that is what we all try to achieve. It is inspiring to know that some people can actually do it; you provide the rest of us a model.

Arlene: The secret to all of it—the wind beneath my wings- are my friends. It's the love and the community that hold me up. And they hold me through all the trials and tribulations with so much love that it just fills me back up. I have to say that it is really community and my faith. That's what holds me together. It feeds and nourishes me.

Audrey: And we'd love to know, how can our ecosystem be of service and support you and your beautiful intentions and work in the world?

Arlene: I can feel all of your love and support. It comes back to me and it just goes back out to feed this beautiful Universe. What I ask now is that we hold all of those who are suffering in Turkey, in Syria, in France, and all over that our prayers and our love reaches all of them today and every day.