I want to respect and honor the different intentions many of us have for our practice. Sure, for some it may be about full-on enlightenment. For others, a bit of that maybe, on the side, or later, for dessert as it were, but for now the main course we’re after is calming this nervous system dwn, and tasting some inner quiet.
But probably hardly any of us would not say we hope for some peace, some happiness, some love. And the proposal here is that that is a most worthy and important wish, and that it must include learning to love ourselves – to cherish and enjoy who we are uniquely.
And yes, there are patterns to our suffering, to the causes of our suffering, and we share them, and all of us have similar components to the engines of suffering. Hence, we learn about the elements of experience and learn to get grounded in the sensorium arising right now. That helps us disengage from our minds, when they’ve got stuck in loops, and from emotional vortices, and we can get quieter and find more space that allows us to experience this moment. And from that, we can gently move into greater appreciation of this life, and all life. So the finding peace can turn into the spreading of peace….Thank you.