Gerardo Abboud: Belonging Begins in Consciousness

Gerardo Abboud reflects on consciousness as the foundation for belonging. In this excerpt from the 2025 Festival of Faiths, Abboud draws from decades of study and practice in Tibetan Buddhism to explore how our experience of mind shapes the way we relate to others—and to ourselves. His perspective invites us to consider belonging not as something external, but as something that arises from awareness, presence, and understanding. A longtime Buddhist teacher and interpreter for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Abboud has spent years studying in India and Nepal and sharing Buddhist teachings around the world. Through this lens, he offers a contemplative approach to belonging—one rooted in inner transformation and the recognition of our shared human experience. Speaker: Gerardo Abboud The Festival of Faiths, based in Louisville, Kentucky, is a nationally recognized gathering of spiritual leaders, artists, and changemakers. The 2025 theme, Sacred Belonging, explores our deep interconnectedness and calls us toward communities rooted in care, empathy, and shared humanity.