As we come near the end of a month or two months of retreat practice, we can reflect on how we might connect, as we enter the "world", our "inner" and "outer" practice. We can be inspired and energized by the figure of the bodhisattva, and by seeing the continuity of the core teachings and practices throughout all the parts of our lives.
What is the quality of awareness that facilitates a joyful presence and attitude toward experience that allows us to know the peace beyond the changing conditions of life?
Human life requires much tenderness and vulnerability to work with inevitable pain and suffering - the practice of compassion is a wonderful vehicle for this orientation.
The four P's: principle of conditionality, process of the four tasks, practice of mindfulness, power of self-reliance; ELSA as a framework for living; the city as a key metaphor of Secular Buddhism; emergence of a secular sangha based on friendships that support self-reliance.
