We first hear from a member of the community about how he is experiencing and responding to what's happening in the larger society and world in our times. We then fairly briefly review last week's session, first identifying the three traditional areas of training--in wisdom, meditation, and ethics--and how each can be important resources for responding to what's happening in our own experience and in our society and world. We focus especially on reviewing our exploration of "ethical practice," responding in our everyday lives and in the larger society and world in caring and compassionate ways. We then explore the traditional figure of the bodhisattva as one who brings together deep commitments both to awakening and to helping others--helping others both in awakening and in terms of their life needs. We look at examples of bodhisattva vows from Theravada, Japanese Zen, and Vietnamese traditions, as well as from passages from Shantideva's "Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life." We show images of archetypal bodhisattvas such as Avalokiteshvara, Tara, Kwan Yin, and Manjushri and discuss the ten ways of training of the Mahayana bodhisattva. We suggest a number of contemporary exemplars of the bodhisattva vocation, and invite participants to develop their own personalized bodhisattva vows. The talk is followed by discussion.

Dharma talk

A practical exploration of wise effort as a balanced, sustainable path: “not too tight and not too loose.” Gullu looks at the effort it takes to begin practice (and the conditions that can support and inspire that effort, including nibbidā and saṁvega), as well as how to cultivate the mind over time through the Four Wise Efforts, offered here with the acronym PACE: P — Preventing unwholesome states from arising A — Abandoning unwholesome states that have arisen C — Cultivating wholesome states E — Extending (sustaining) wholesome states