Good morning! Welcome to the Dkos Sangha weekly open thread.
This is an open thread for members of the Dkos Sangha and interested visitors who happen by. Each of us has our own path; we come here by way of many different traditions, and of no particular tradition. While the language we use may differ depending on the traditions, teachers, practices, and teachings that have shaped our journeys, we find in common, generally, a search for who we truly are, our true nature, and to bring the peace and compassion born of that search into the greater world of which we area part. If you wish to share, or if you seek support, or if you simply want to say hello, please do, as this space is for you.
SATSANG OF THE WEEK: The Heart Sutra.
In Mahayana Buddhism, compassion is often discussed in terms of absolute and relative compassion. Absolute compassion is compassion in the light of emptiness: All beings are empty; all beings are, by virtue of their empty nature, already liberated and pure. As the sutra says, suffering is empty, and relief from suffering is also empty.
SNIP
The insight of prajñaparamita, the perfection of wisdom as taught in the Heart Sutra, is the ultimate truth, transcending of all conventional truths. It is the highest vision of the Buddha. Prajñaparamita is the liberating insight that helps us to overcome all pairs of opposites, such as birth and death, being and non-being, defilement and immaculacy, increasing and decreasing, subject and object, and so on. All phenomena are products of dependent arising: that is the main point of the prajñaparamita teaching. This helps us to get in touch with the true nature of no birth/no death, no being/no non-being, etc., which is the true nature of all phenomena. This is a state of coolness, peace, and non-fear that can be experienced in this very life, in your own body and in your own five skandhas.
It is nirvana. As it is said in a very beautiful sentence in the nirvana chapter of the Chinese Dharmapada: “Just as the birds enjoy the sky, and the deer enjoy the meadow, so do the wise enjoy dwelling in nirvana.”
Take this time to sit, and quietly take in your surroundings in a comfortable place. Do not dwell on thoughts that enter your mind for long, as the need to empty the mind while sitting is what is to be realized, all the while concentrating on your breath: Breath in, and exhale out, and truly realize the moment of this time that is just for you, it is your place, your time, you are at home: Your home.
