Refuge as a doorway.

Life is full of thresholds that forever change who we are and how we live our life. A doorway is one of the most common symbols of a threshold, for we move from a place in which we are familiar into a place that is unknown to us and beyond our sight. One side of the door is the past and where we have come from, on the other side is the future and what is yet to come. On one side we leave behind the familiar, to discover something else as the mystery unfolds.

Each of us is called to be more deeply present in the world, to participate and contribute to the world around us in some way. That call may come from a random encounter, a problem we are facing, an accident or even a dream. We most notice that call when we are hesitating to step out beyond our comfort zone, second guessing ourselves, or holding back from fear or uncertainty.

That call creates a threshold. It presents a small gap in which we are given an opportunity to be more open, responsive and available. That chance encounter isn't a chance at all, because it is how you are to use your life as the journey of self-discovery.

If we recognize that call, but choose to hold back or give in, then we fall back into our habitual ways and over invest in things outside ourselves, beyond our control.

Answering that call means crossing the threshold and finding ourselves on a sacred journey or pilgrimage to rediscover our own buddha heart. The challenges of the path continually present themselves and we slowly learn to set aside our own fixation and confusion so that we can awaken to our genuine way of being.

This threshold that we are talking about, between presence or giving in to the resistance, is traditionally presented as refuge. Before the doorway of refuge we reified who we are and believed in powers outside of ourselves for our freedom and liberation. Beyond the doorway is a world in which we recognize our innate potential and rely on our own experience and wisdom as the path. On that journey of self-discovery and revelation of our own buddha heart, we will find that we need to rely on teachers who have traveled this path, teachings that we can rely on, and supportive companions who understand the journey that we are on.

Refuge isn't a one-time event. Again and again we are called to cross that threshold, to leave behind our narrow conception of self and strive for awakening. Again and again, we rely on the Dharma to guide us on that journey.

Refuge is the doorway to awakening and marks a significant shift on your journey of self-discovery.

The deception of self-help.

The self-help genre is exploding in popular culture. Everything from how to be more fit, more mindful, how find your purpose and how to live the life you were meant to live.

The stories are compelling.

The deception that much of the self-help genre relies upon is that your life, right now, is not good enough. You can do better. You must do better to be the person that you want to be. Pick yourself up. Get motivated. Work!

There is a subtle poverty mentality going on, a failure to recognize your innate qualities and potential. Often we find the Buddha's teachings lumped into this self-help category, a sort of new age twist to an ancient tradition.

Here is the key distinction- the self-help genre wants you to get out of your current situation in search of a better situation. The Buddha's teachings want you to be fully present in your current situation. See how subtle that is? One wants you to start running and keep running, the other wants you to sit and be present with the world as it is.

Both methods create dramatic change. The difference is that one keeps you on a cycle in which you never reach your fulfillment, and the other starts with finding your fulfillment and then teaching you how to move from that ground with intention.

The Buddha's teachings become applicable to any life, any situation, any profession. Right now, just as it is.

Shared values.

It is difficult and challenging to navigate our world today. Our country is divided, our communities are plagued by inequality and addiction, and even in our own families we may find it difficult to find common ground.

Where do we start to rebuild trust and respect?

We all share core values, values like honesty, integrity, generosity and compassion. As a culture, we value hard work, persistence, and dedication to a cause. Our religious traditions ask us to love our neighbor, help those less fortunate and be of service to others.

These are all points of contact that we share. While we may disagree on many issues, we can agree that values in our life and in our world are important. Start the conversation around shared values, and then listen to each other. Conversations may reveal how much we have in common, and maybe even break down the great divide that seems to keep us apart.

Imagine if we could even take this small step within our own family. If we could each unite the great divide within our family, maybe our communities could start to shift and change as well.

Talk to family and friends. What values do you share and why are they important to you?

Buddha on the Life Changing Practice of Mindfulness

“Whoever, mendicants, should practice these four foundations of mindfulness for just one week may expect one of two results: either complete deliverance in this life or, if there is a residue of clinging, the state of a non-returner.”

On one occasion, the Buddha was staying in the Kuru kingdom near a marketplace called Khammasadhamma. The Kuru kingdom was the center of Vedic culture and the dominant political and cultural center of the area. The local culture was committed to brahmanic rituals and rites of purification and the society maintained a strict social hierarchy. The marketplace would have been filled with artisans working on their craft, traders doing business, and local religious and political leaders lobbying for power and control. It was a culture not much different than our own.

At that time and in that place, the Buddha spoke to his disciples about the practice of mindfulness, teaching what is known as the Mahāsatipatṭhāna Sutta, the Great Sutra on the Foundations of Mindfulness. This work of his revealed the core practice of mindfulness, which is central to the Buddha’s teachings and a core principle of living life according to the Dharma.

The practice of mindfulness is for those practitioners who are committed to living mindfully in order to realize inner freedom. It is a practice to overcome busyness and distraction, teaching us to let go of preoccupations and focus the mind in the present. This practice of being mindful and aware frees us from suffering, fear and anxiety, giving us the capacity to be present and engaged, to look deeply and discover the insight needed to transform our life and the world around us.  Accessible and relevant to the modern world, this teaching reveals four qualities of the mind necessary for embarking on a lifetime of practice. This practical yet profound practice teaches us how to maintain mindfulness of the body, how to experience sense perceptions and the influences of the inner and outer world, how to recognize thoughts and various mental states, and how to carry mindfulness through the varieties of our lived experience.

In the Digha Nikaya, the Long Discourses of the Buddha, the Buddha taught the practice of the foundations of mindfulness.

There is, mendicants, this one way to the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and distress, for the disappearance of pain and sadness, for the gaining of the right path, for the realization of Nirvana- that is to say the four foundations of mindfulness.

During the Buddha’s time, the local culture would have been obsessed with purifying the body, improving its condition and making it more pleasing for the sake of everyday concerns. They would have yearned for a way to purify their minds of negative thoughts and mental states, reaching out to their local Brahmin for a method of cleansing the mind and spirit. In this regard, ancient India is not much different than our own modern day world. People are always looking for an easy fix to their problems. People spend countless resources on ways to cleanse the body and make it healthier. They seek out methods that all promise to lead to happiness and a life of meaning and purpose. Celebrities of the moment all have the solution of the day available to you.

Knowing the local culture and the concerns of his audience, the Buddha taught the foundations of mindfulness as the single authentic way to purify our own body, speech and mind. He taught the practice of mindfulness as the only way to overcome sorrow and distress, pain and sadness. This single practice sets us out on the right path, on the path of inner freedom. 

Here, mendicants, a mendicant abides contemplating body as body, ardent, clearly aware and mindful, having put aside hankering and fretting for the world. She abides contemplating feelings as feelings; she abides contemplating mind as mind; she abides contemplating phenomena as phenomena, ardent, clearly aware and mindful, having put aside hankering and fretting for the world.

Four Qualities for Engaging in the Practice

The Buddha taught that when we are contemplating these foundations of mindfulness, we should be ardent, clearly aware, mindful and put aside any hankering and fretting for the world. These four qualities are essential if our practice is to be fruitful.

Ardent (Pali. Ātāpī) means to burn. It is to be passionate and enthusiastic about the task at hand. One who is not ardent lacks energy. Thus, the Buddha taught that to engage in the practice of mindfulness we need to be passionate about our work. Who among us is passionate about the work they do? 

Amateurs are passionate, to be an amateur is ‘to love’. Amateurs are curious and have lots of questions, and the answers to those questions lead to more questions resulting in a constant state of wonder. Approaching the practice with a beginners mind, we are fueled by wonder and fascination. Amateurs are passionate enough to do the work it takes to orientate themselves to the worlds in which they inquire. Their passion allows them to build the framework necessary to explore deeper. Their passion carries them beyond the superficial layers, it fosters depth and the depth feeds the passion. Passion coupled with orientation, a framework for exploration and the ability to see deeper are the prerequisites for becoming an expert. Being ardent, we start as amateurs in the practice and end up as masters.

Clearly aware (Skt. samprajanya) is a vigilant awareness that is fully alert to the present moment. The Buddha describes this vigilant awareness in the Satipatthanasamyutta:

And how, mendicants, does a mendicant exercise clear comprehension? Here, mendicants, for a mendicant feelings are understood as they arise, understood as the remain present, understood as they pass away. Thoughts are understood as they arise; perceptions are understood as they arise…It is in this way, mendicants, that a mendicant exercises clear comprehension.

Being clearly aware means being present in a non-reactive and non-judgemental way. It is like a watchmen in the tower, looking out over his domain, knowing who is coming and going. It is sharp, attentive and focused.

The next quality of the mind that must be developed is mindfulness itself. Mindful in this sense means to be mindful of the object of our intention. Attention follows intention, so we need to be clear about what we are being mindful of. Once we have set a clear intention, mindfulness maintains our attention on that focus. When the mind wanders and becomes distracted, mindfulness brings us back. Mindfulness can be described as a rope that ties a monkey to a stake. As the monkey of the mind moves and jumps around, the rope always brings the monkey back.

The last quality of the mind required for this practice is to put aside hankering and fretting for this world. Set aside your attachment and aversion, your craving and fixation. Remain in a state free from judgment and speculation. Let go of reactions to whatever is coming up in your experience, simply maintain the continuity of mindfulness and vigilant awareness with curiosity and enthusiasm. 

Cultivating these four mental qualities of being ardent, clearly aware, mindful and setting aside our reactions to our experience, we can move through each of the four foundations of mindfulness, contemplating the body as body, feelings as feelings, mind as mind, and phenomena as phenomena; simply being aware of our experience in a non-reactive and non-judgemental way.

These four qualities of mind are the way in which we engage in the practice of mindfulness. Next time, we will look into the practice as it pertains to contemplating one’s own body, feelings, mind and experience.

Litmus test.

As our practice evolves we move through various periods of growth, learning and change. In the beginning, we don't notice much change. Our progress seems slow and inconsequential. We might feel that during our meditation we can maintain our focus and presence, but off the cushion we still feel swept away by circumstances.

In the middle of our practice, we see some change has occurred. We are more focused and less reactive. We are able to maintain a sense of openness and balance amidst difficult situations. We start to have more insights into our own situation and the world at large. We see and experience this change, but it also comes and goes. Some days we can maintain our equipoise and composure, some days we fall off the horse.

The end result of our practice is that we experience enduring and lasting changes to who we are and how we move through the world. We are able to navigate our daily lives with balance and openness. We enjoy lasting states of kindness, patience and ease. Our practice has fundamentally changed our life.

The litmus test of our practice is our daily life. The drama and tumult that we experience on a day to day basis is the very measure of our achievement.

Can we maintain our awareness and composure? Do we get swept away in our negative self-talk and emotions? Can we be present in the face of uncertainty? When presented with the opportunity to be generous and kind, do we share our gifts?

You are the practice. Every step is the way.

Culture of awakening.

I grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The culture of Green Bay revolves around the Packers. The front page of the Green Bay Press Gazette (which I diligently delivered as a teenager) always talks about the Packers. The community wears Packers gear, talks about the Packers, and responds to how the Packers are doing.

If you don't value the Packer culture, you also don't quite fit in. That doesn't make you bad. The community doesn't reject you, but at some point or another you just move along.

Culture has values. It shapes beliefs and actions. Culture can shift our posture, the way we sit and the way we greet each other. Without having to be spoken, culture says, "This is what we do around here."

Stephen Batchelor coined the phrase culture of awakening. I haven't read any of Stephen's work, but this notion that we do impacts and shapes others is powerful.

The Buddha taught that our intentions and actions shape the world. Our individual thoughts and actions impact our life. When we form communities with others who share our values, we create a culture. Others interact with that culture. They see what people value, how they interact, and what they do.

The culture becomes a contact point for change.

The change that a culture brings isn't always about making a quick impact. It is often more like a resonance or a vibration, something that can be felt minutely at first, but later can shape entire landscapes and tear down walls. 

A culture of awakening isn't about forcing you awake. It is like whispering in your ear, "It's time to get up."

Who is we?

The great practitioner of virtue dedicates their practice to the benefit of others, but who are the others?

Who is we?

Is it your family, your tribe, your community?
Is it your supporters and sponsors?
Is the circle of we really the circle of you?

We is everyone. All beings, everywhere. Those with you and those against you. Those you agree with and those you don't.

That is the basis of dedication.

You don't need to agree with everyone or align with their position. You don't need to condone wrong views or tolerate injustice.

You should wish all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness, that they be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. All beings, everyone.

That is the basis. That is the common ground. That is a starting point for change.

What are you looking for?

We are all constantly moving, shifting position, adrift in a sea of change. We find ourselves chasing, over reaching, holding back, leaning a bit too far.

Amidst that dynamic play, what are you looking for?

Are you looking for the right position? Are you only looking at what others are doing? Do you find yourself taking a particular stance, drawing lines in the sand of with me or against me? What if no one validates your position, are you okay with that?

Your view is important. Not your views, not your opinions or ideas.  Your view, what you are looking for, your outlook. 

Your view allows you to navigate change, or to constantly be fighting it. Your view allows you to reconnect with your center, or to be strung out and off balance. Your view can create harmony and balance, or it can create division and discord. 

Your practice should continually try to refine and clarify your view. Really dig in, what are you looking for?  Have you found it? 

When you think you have found it, be brave enough to ask the next question- does this view assist me in navigating change and adversity, or do I find myself caught up in the storm?

Lifetime after lifetime.

A new job, a new relationship, moving, going back to school.  Change something. 

Discovering our own natural freedom and benefiting others is always just around the next corner.  Fulfillment and peace of mind is always just a couple of changes away. 

Yet we turn a corner and soon are looking for the next one.

We search, longing for a new opportunity, a fresh start, a new birth.

Lifetime after lifetime, we cycle.  Even in this lifetime. 

When do we no longer look to change our circumstances? 

A better version of yourself.

You are an individual.  You are a father, a mother, a son or daughter.  You are a partner, a friend, a student and a teacher.  You have a profession, hobbies, passions and curiosities.  You might be young or old, beautiful or well worn, trendy or old-fashioned. 

You are all of those things, and none of those things are you.

You've ridden on the highest of highs, sailed through the lowest of lows.  You have hopes and fears, ideas and aspirations.  You have stories you tell yourself when you are in a slump, and stories you tell yourself when you are basking in the limelight.

You are all of those things, and none of those things are you.

You are a mosaic.

You are millions of pieces of broken bits, shards of glass and shattered pieces gathered over lifetimes of moments, actions and interactions.    

You are an aggregate of stones, some white, some black, amassed over mountaintops and rolling hills, through dense forests and sandy beaches, across good times and bad in cities and villages that have come and gone.  Tiny pieces brought together from your youth, through aging and sickness, pain and suffering, opportunity and loss. 

People will want to take pieces of you, pieces to call their own.  Let them.  Those shards are not your own and scars and imperfections enhance your beauty. 

You will be judged and you will judge yourself.  Judged for your form, for how you come together, criticized for your proportions and the depth of your character.  It's okay to listen to judgement, for it voices what is real to what is the ideal.  Not necessarily your ideal, but an ideal not yet embodied and probably not found. 

You are dynamic, constantly changing.  A continuous process of transformation, gain and loss, old and new, death and birth.

You will likely spend years, maybe even a lifetime, trying to piece together the broken shards into a picture that makes sense.  You'll try as you might to figure it out, to make it more beautiful or more meaningful, all in the search of a better self. 

It is my hope, indeed my greatest aspiration,
that someday before you are lying on your deathbed,
that you will not suffer from grief or regret. 
That you will simply rest.
The continuum of time and space embodied in the present
as a collection of millions of broken bits,
bits that don't make sense and some that do,
all of them coming together in a beautiful moment,
a moment of joy, rapture, tenderness and forgiveness.
A moment of gratitude and appreciation, wonder and awe. 
Where you discover a better version of your self.

Technicians, Artists and Alchemists

Chances are your work falls into one of three categories:

The Technician.
The technician is precise, focused and determined.  They are masters of their trade, know the details and the connections.  Their depth of understanding is profound and inspiring.  Ask a technician a question and he will give you an answer backed with experience and reasoning.  Technicians are very straight forward and matter of fact.

The Artist.
Artists are masters of their craft who are generous by nature.  They use their trade to make an impact in people's lives.  They are visionaries, leaders, ruckus makers.  The artist isn't in it for the status or power, they are in it because they see an opportunity to impact change and they are willing to step into the void.  

The Alchemist.
Alchemists are enigmatic artists.  You find them in strange circles, unfit places, unseemly professions.  Alchemists are masters of change and transformation.  Their art doesn't make sense to us, often times we don't see it or even believe it to be true.  Their art is lived, worked over.  They do the same thing day in and day out, perfectly content to keep plodding along, yet timelessly free and relaxed.  The enigma of the alchemist doesn't lie within them, it lies within us.

Technicians are too focused on the mechanics of their own practice.
Artists are too focused on the result and ensuing benefit.
Alchemists are free of attachment and the eight worldly concerns.  For them, the result is the path. 

Change without change.

The spacious sky is unchanging, accommodating unending movement in the form of weather fronts, cumulus clouds modeled in apparitional forms, various life forms coming and going. 

Constantly changing, yet without change. 

The vast oceans are unchanging, accommodating wave after wave, teeming with life and biodiversity.

Constantly changing, yet without change.

The market squares are unchanging, accommodating various vendors coming and going, pedestrians and dogs, birds scrambling to catch a crumb, regulars and travelers, rich and poor. 

Constantly changing, yet without change.

This characteristic of change without change is known as symmetry in physics.  It is beautiful and it is all around us, the nature of reality and the nature of our own mind. 

To appreciate it, you only need to rest in a silent awareness.

The expanse of awareness is unchanging, accommodating all that appears and exists, an endless dance of appearances, days and nights come and go, yet not a single moment comes to pass.

Constantly changing, yet without change. 

The struggling artist.

An artist is someone who is generous, open and vulnerable.  Their medium is connection.  The result of their work is that they have impacted another life, brought about a benefit or change.

We all have to work with what is coming up.  Something is always coming up.

The artist is able to cut through the resistance and willing to care enough to make an impact.

The rest of us get caught up in the resistance, entangled in struggle and strife, dissatisfied in our search for meaning. 

We're struggling artists.

The difference?  How you relate to what is coming up in your life. 

Entirely different.

There are people in our life who have changed us.  Changed us in ways that we couldn't imagine what our life would be like had we not been touched by their grace.  We would be entirely different people. 

They are people whose words have impacted our mind, whose presence has opened us up and whose kindness has permeated our heart.  They could be people we have known for many years, or even those who we knew for a brief moment in space and time.  Those people are our greatest teachers.  They've changed us, stuck with us even when they are no longer around.  They have given us a gift that is timeless and inexhaustible.

We can never repay our teacher's kindness.  It is not possible because they have created a world that we could have never imagined even for ourselves.  Their gift to us has created something that didn't exist before and the only way that we can begin to repay their kindness is to share it.  Increase it and spread it throughout the ten directions.

You can never be sure when a gift will create a new world, so give generously and dedicate all of your actions to the benefit of beings.    

  

Hey Pup, what's your view?

"Hey Pup."

"Hey Dog."

"Listen, Pup, I've been wondering why you don't play with any pugs?"

"No one in my pack plays with pugs."

"Why not?"

"Because, everyone knows that if you play with pugs you are likely to get hurt and that they can even ruin your whole pack."

"What?  That's not true, I've played with pugs my whole life and I've never had a problem.  Actually one of my best friends is a pug."

"Well you better be careful.  My pack refuses to acknowledge all the barking about how great pugs are these days.  My great granddog's pack nearly broke apart after they found out one of the new dogs had played with a pug.  It was only after he admitted that he wrong and promised to never do it again that the pack stayed together."

"Pup, I've seen you play with mutts and pit bulls, even jump into a river with a golden, but one pug comes around and you get all tied up in knots and refuse to play.  Don't you think you're just tormenting yourself worrying about these pugs."

"No, you don't joke around with pugs.  We just don't do it."

"Is there a chance that you are generalizing, that maybe there were certain situations that happened in the past and it just happened to be a pug.  Maybe it was the dog park or the type of game that was being played."

"What's your point?  Why are you attacking me and my pack just because we don't like pugs."

"I'm not attacking you, Pup.  I just want to know your view.  It seems to me that your view really affects your day to day reality and not necessarily in a good way.  The way you perceive pugs not only affects your actions, but you won't even play with other dogs if there is a pug around.  I'm not attacking you, Pup, I just think your view is a source of bondage for you."

"I appreciate your concern, Dog.  I do.  But this is the way its always been for my pack, we don't know any different and who wants to take a chance when there are all these others dogs we can play with anyways.  It's actually pretty easy to avoid pugs if you keep your eye out for them."

"That's the thing, Pup, your mind is preoccupied with pugs and you don't even recognize it.  All these other dogs play with pugs all the time and they have never had a problem.  There is so much of the dog park that you don't see because there might be a pug around.  This is all about fear and protecting yourself from pain, yet the fear itself torments you and you experience emotional pain and anxiety anyways."

"So what do you want me to do, just leave my pack behind and everyone I love to go play with some pugs.  I'm not going to do it Dog."

"I'm not asking you to leave your pack behind, maybe just get to know a pug and see what they are like.  Honestly, most of them are really nice and friendly just like all the other dogs here."

"My pack won't like this, I might get kicked out for even associating with a pug.  I can't believe I am even talking to you about this right now."

"I tell you what, just think about it.  You don't need to change today or even tomorrow.  Just watch from a distance, think about your view and how it affects your actions.  Does your view promote your happiness or does it promote suffering?  Does it promote the health and happiness of your pack and all the other dogs here or does it cause more division and judgement?  Just think about it Pup, that's all I ask."

"Alright, Dog, I'll think about it.  But don't tell anyone, I don't want to be known as the heretic."

"Your not a heretic for thinking about what is truly beneficial for your life and your pack, Pup, you might even strengthen your faith and do what is really important for them and all the other dogs here."

"Thanks Dog, I appreciate that."

Groundless.

Nothing is the same as it was before. 

That's difficult to accept.  It leaves us feeling vulnerable, exposed, confused.  It can make us angry, want to fight back and lash out.

We can fight ourselves for years, trying to get back the world we knew and loved.  But we should know that we are the creator of that burden, that our lives our complicated by our own complicated mind. 

It is difficult to accept that things have changed, but once we do it is easier to move forward, to start living in this new world and to start creating the world of tomorrow. 

Too intense.

Is this situation too intense, or are your emotions too intense?
Is this problem too difficult, or is your aversion too difficult to deal with?
Is this conflict too volatile, or is your anger out of control?
Is this challenge too hard, or is the story your telling yourself about it too hard?
Is this too scary, or is your fear too real?

What is outer, what is inner?  What is in the environment, what is in your mind?

What can you try to change? 

How do you bring about that change?

Can you do that?

What additional resources and skills do you need?

Go get them.

Coursing through your veins.

We interact with a lot of people in our life.  We share moments, constantly.  Sometimes we may share a long length of time with a person and remain unchanged.  Other times, we can have a brief exchange, an intimate encounter, or a timely interaction and it stays with us forever.  

Changed.

It is hard to say why, or how, or even what.  But you see it, you know it in your heart and feel it coursing through your veins.  You have been changed, blessed, impacted.  You can never repay their kindness and generosity, just as the earth can never repay the sun for its light and warmth.  You don't have to repay it; just share it, amplify it and give it to others.  

A change in posture.

What we tell ourselves influences our posture.

'I am tired'- our shoulders slouch, we need to sit down.
'I am not tired'- we stand tall, push ahead despite the fatigue.
'I can't do this'- looking for any reason, no matter how small, to duck out.
'I am a frog'- well, we can hop around all day but let's face it, that's simply just not true.

So what if we tell ourselves we love to be generous, to make connections that matter and to bring value to the communities in which we live and work?  What does that posture look like? 

It might look like an open, outstretched hand. 

Is it true?

Well, that is up to you. 

Problem Solver.

What are the main problems in your life?

Stress.  Anxiety.  Health.  Money.  Love. Work.  Fear.  Busy.  Time.  People.

Normally we relate to our problems with aversion.  We believe, erroneously, that if we can get rid of all our problems then we will be happy and we can live the life we imagine.

What if we change that relationship?

What if instead of trying to avoid problems we sought to derive wisdom from them?

What is this problem, this person, this situation trying to teach me?  Am I willing to listen?  To learn?  How much am I contributing to this problem being a problem?

If we take our problems onto the path they become fuel for the fire of wisdom.  They become a catalyst for change and growth.

If we relate to problems in this way, the problem and the need for a solution fall away.  The notion of problems and solutions has been resolved in its own ground.  As you learn to carry wisdom as the path, listening deeply becomes your greatest asset.

Use it.

Wisdom wants to be shared.  Listen, and share it.  You don't need to be a sage to share wisdom, you simply need to look deeply into your own life and situation; listen, be patient and vulnerable, and be honest.

Problems present themselves as an opportunity for liberation, an opportunity for the sun of wisdom to breakthrough the darkness.

Don't worry, if you can't liberate the first problem that comes up more will always present themselves.