The Practice of Refuge with Sunita Puri

About this episode

Sunita Puri discusses her journey of finding refuge in nature amidst burnout and how Buddhist teachings have influenced her perspective on refuge.

Sunita Puri is a writer, a palliative medicine physician, and an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. She is the author of That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour. She recently wrote an article for the Spring issue of Tricycle called “Seeking Refuge,” where she discusses how she has found refuge in nature in the face of burnout. In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Puri to discuss what first led her to turn to nature as a way to hold her grief, how her relationship to the concept of refuge has evolved over time, why she views refuge as a practice rather than a place, and how Buddhist teachings on impermanence have shaped her life and her practice.

People in this episode

Hosts: James Shaheen, Sharon Salzberg

Guest: Sunita Puri

Topics covered

• refuge
• nature
• grief
• Buddhism
• impermanence
• burnout

Keywords

• Sunita Puri
• Buddhism
• nature
• grief
• burnout
• impermanence
• palliative medicine

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of California, Irvine School of Medicine

Books & works: That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour, Seeking Refuge

More episodes of Tricycle Talks

• Reincarnating the Buddhas of Bamiyan with Tuan Andrew Nguyen · June 10, 2026 · 49 min
• Writing into the Void with Ruth Ozeki · May 27, 2026 · 56 min
• Finding Balance to Engage More Fully with Margaret Cullen · May 20, 2026 · 1h 2m
• A Beginner’s Guide to Dark Retreat with Andrew Holecek · May 13, 2026 · 48 min
• Did the Buddha Really Teach That There Is No Self? · April 22, 2026 · 56 min
• Opening to Wonder with Ada Limón · April 15, 2026 · 59 min