Awakening Through Understanding

This podcast is an invitation to discover and/or renew our commitment to the path of awakening. It begins with a step the Buddha called right or skillful understanding. This fold in the eightfold path asks a deep question of our hearts. What do we really value, what do we really care about in this life? Our lives are quite short. Our childhood goes by very quickly, then adolescence and adult life go by. We can be complacent and let our lives disappear in a dream, or we can become aware. In Dharma practice it is very helpful to ask what is most important to us. What do we care about most? What are our deepest values? What brings us to Dharma practice?  We can explore, discover and remember our answers to these questions together.

"At the time of death, people who have tried to live consciously ask only one or two questions about their life: Did I learn to live wisely? Did I love well? We can begin by asking them now" Jack Kornfield

"Right understanding is the understanding of things as they are, and it is the four noble truths that explain things as they really are"  Joseph Goldstein

"This understanding is not mere intellectual understanding. It is instead a thorough penetration of the Four Noble Truths. Theravada scholar Wapola Rahula called this penetration "seeing a thing in its true nature, without name and label." (What the Buddha Taught, page 49)

"Our happiness and the happiness of those around us depend on our degree of Right View. Touching reality deeply -- knowing what is going on inside and outside of ourselves -- is the way to liberate ourselves from the suffering that is caused by wrong perceptions. Right View is not an ideology, a system, or even a path. It is the insight we have into the reality of life, a living insight that fills us with understanding, peace, and love." (The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, page 51) Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh 

 

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