Faith

Our ultimate concern is the touchstone we turn to over and over again, the thread that we reach for to convey a sense of meaning in our lives. It is the glue that connects the disparate pieces, the frame that gives shape to the picture of our experiences.

And then her husband sent her a book that changed everything. That book was

Either viewed through the dharma or through science, the fundamental condition of reality is wholeness, interrelatedness. This immense, interlinked, commonly hidden world is the realm where our actions play out. Knowing we are intimately connected to this bigger reality upholds our faith as we take action in the world.

The first step on the journey of faith is to recognize that everything is moving onward to something else, inside us and outside.

This state of love-filled delight in possibilities and eager joy at the prospect of actualizing them is known in Buddhism as bright faith. Bright faith goes beyond merely claiming that possibility for oneself to immersing oneself in it. With bright faith we feel exalted as we are lifted out of our normal sense of insignificance, thrilled as we no l

When we wake up in the morning and picture the dealings of our day as consequential, we tell ourselves a story that is based on our ultimate concern.

“When you go to America you should teach meditation.” I was astonished and immediately protested, “No, I can’t do that. I’m not at all qualified.” She smiled patiently, as though at a child who has lost the point of a story, and answered, “Yes, you should teach. You really understand suffering. That’s why you’re qualified to teach.”

“There is darkness in the world, but it is merely an absence of light. All the darkness in the world cannot dispel even the smallest candle flame. We need only to accustom ourselves to the dim vision, and then the blessing of light will grow.”

When we are in despair, whether with a distinctly impressive cause or not, we feel devastated and alone. Anyone who has ever been in this state of mind, for whatever reason, will recognize the statement “We all became completely separate human beings.”

This buddha nature, with its two wings of love and awareness,