Charlotte Center For Mindfulness // Podcasts

With the First Noble Truth, the Buddha said made clear that dukkha (often translated as suffering) is an inevitable part of life and that this truth of dukkha must be reckoned with. How might we relate to this first Noble Truth in a way that reckoning with dukkha might be ennobling? Note: for the podcast we edit out the sharings the group offered on this question, but give the closing for your contemplation.

Using Rumi’s the Guest House as a starting place, what is needed in this moment now to welcome the guests that are here in our guest house.

The teachings of the Buddha start with the Four Noble Truths, the first of which is that in this life there is dukkha, often translated as suffering. In these challenging times, it is so helpful to understand how opening and encouraging engaging with this teaching can be.

This world – absolutely pure As is. Behind the fear, Vulnerability. Behind that, Sadness, then compassion And behind that the vast sky. -Rick Fields, written while working with terminal cancer

Cognitive Science is identifying different ways we relate to “self” that are very useful for untangling a challenging moment. This relates beautifully to Phillip Moffit’s quote: A crucial skill from minimizing emotional chaos and sustaining clarity in your life is the ability to distinguish between your experience in your interpretation of your experience. Your experience is simply whatever is happening in the moment— a sound, a taste, bodily sensation, and emotion, any kind of interaction, etc

Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet wrote, “Work is love made visible.” That’s a beautiful description also of why and how we practice. What orientation is needed in this moment right now for practice to be making love visible?