Dalai Lama Foundation Study Circle Montreal

TWO SIDES OF A COIN

Any happiness there is in the world ultimately turns to pain. Why? Consider the two sides of a coin: just because what we desire is to be seen on the front does not mean that dislike won’t soon appear on the back. Likewise, hope and fear are a single coin, one entity with two faces—on the other side of a moment in which we hope for more happiness will be our fear of more suffering. Until attachment is eliminated, we can be certain of having both hope and fear. As long as there is hope and fear, the delusions of samsara will be perpetuated and there will be constant suffering. Thus attachment is the nature of both hope and fear: looking at the ultimate emptiness of the self-envisioned magical illusion of hope and fear, we should hang loosely in the flow.

December 17, 2012

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In response to Newtown, A Call for Spiritual Activism

Rev. Charles Howard, chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania, offers a reflection on the recent tragedy in Connecticut. In his own search for how to respond, he comes to the intersection of inner transformation and social activism: “I am fasting for the next 27 days. One day for each life lost in Newtown — including the gunman’s. Fasting has been a part of my spiritual life for some time, but it was always impressed upon me to never tell others when I was fasting, as it is meant to be a private thing — just between you and God. Not a show. Not a feat to bring attention to oneself. But this time, I thought that maybe by sharing what I’m doing, by fasting for peace, I (we) might be able to not only lean into this issue spiritually, but also move those around us to act as well.” { read more }

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