2010.03.18 01:00 - The Core of Practice

The Guardian for this meeting was Zen Arado. Comments are by Zen Arado. No one else turned up so I left after half an hour. Just to give some content, I thought I would post this paragraph from todays Tricycle reading:

“The core of Buddhist practice is the transformation of suffering (dukkha) and its roots into wisdom and compassion. As the Buddha pointed out, we all experience physical and emotional pain. We all get sick, lose people we love, and each of us will die. Our practice is not to try to get rid of this pain, which would be impossible. Rather, it is to avoid constricting around our pain, or blaming ourselves or others for it, or lashing out when we feel attacked—somehow believing that by so doing we will get rid of or resolve the initial hurt.

This cycle of reactivity is called suffering. The task of our practice is to transform such reactivity and the greed, hatred, and delusion that fuel it. It is to realize that it is possible to experience pain without suffering, without passing on the pain to ourselves or others.”

—From Donald Rothberg, "Present Moment, Urgent Moment" (Fall 2004)