Richard Gombrich, a Buddhist scholar, called the Buddha a brilliant and original thinker on the level of Plato and Aristotle. But the Buddha wasn't interested in just speculative philosophy, but to understand why we suffer, and how to find freedom. The Four Noble Truths is his direct teaching on just that.
This third in a series of talks explores the formation of self through the chain of dependent origination, a detailed description of how we suffer. It then outlines approaches in meditation that let us step out of the chain of suffering and into a state of "unentangled knowing" in which we discover the possibility of freedom here and now.
The talk, given immediately following two weeks of silent practice, explores themes of remembering what is important, mystery, doing and being, and awareness "open like the sky," connecting how we practice both in retreat and daily life.
The Dalai Lama has said that compassion develops through a deep insight into and understanding suffering. The difficult times we go through on retreat are a wonderful opportunity to explore the possibility of compassion in relationship to our own experience.
The habit of judging; ourselves and others can be a huge source of suffering. Exploring the conditioned nature of this tendency of mind can lead to greater happiness and freedom.
