learning to take deliberate control of the reins of the mind. By consciously guiding the senses and using the intellect with clarity and intention, I focus its energy on what truly matters: transcending personal suffering and serving others with wisdom and compassion.

Our anger, anxiety and fear, for instance, are the ropes that bind us to suffering. If we want to be liberated from them, we need to observe their nature, which is ignorance, the lack of clear understanding. When we misunderstand a friend, we may become angry at him, and because of that, we may suffer. But when we look deeply into what has

Liberation. He told them of the Three Steps to Enlightenment—Precepts, Concentration, and Understanding. Observing the precepts develops concentration. Concentration leads to understanding. Understanding enables one to practice the precepts more deeply. The more deeply the precepts are observed, the greater one’s concentration grows. The greater