Hi friends,
When I first discovered the dharma, the last thing I wanted to do was meditate. Read dharma books? Loved those. Attend community gatherings? Amazing. Meditate in silence and pay attention to my heart and mind? Anything else.
I recognized what was really underneath my avoidance was fear of befriending my suffering. I already felt awful but there was something about the intimacy of getting to know how terrible I truly felt that really scared me.
What was helpful was recalling the Buddha’s first teaching or “turning of the wheel” on the Four Noble Truths. The blatant and refreshing acknowledgement that we are indeed suffering, often in many ways, all the time. And that this reality doesn’t live in opposition to the truth of one’s own buddha-nature.
In this video, you’ll learn:
The meaning and significance of the Four Noble Truths
The eight types of suffering—and how the parable of the two arrows explains the difference between pain and the suffering we often layer on top
The Buddha’s insight into the root cause of suffering
How the Noble Eightfold Path offers a way out of suffering, and the role meditation plays in the threefold training
