There’s always been suffering in the world – nothing new. But these days, I think, we are given the gift to notice it more. We also have the gift of noting that pretty much everybody in the world is kind of suffering right now. There always are, but we don’t notice it. And now we have this gift to feel connected. We have the opportunity to actually, everyday, be with the suffering of people everywhere.

The BZC audio dharma is available free of charge and made possible by the donations we receive. You can donate to BZC here. Thank you!

I would suggest a mind that is awake, and that settles, and that finds love, joy, and ease in precariousness, so that we can be with each other, and love each other, and support each other. In very real, concrete meaningful ways.

I have hope because I think the virus has actually caught our attention. I have hope because it has stopped us in our tracks. I have hope that maybe this time we will rethink our relationship to the Earth, to this living miracle. […] That maybe we can live in gratitude for this gift of life.

This teaching [of impermanence] thrusts us into realization. Most of us may think of impermanence as something that is solid for a while and then it decays and goes away. We think of impermanence as a kind of temporary permanence. But it isn’t.

For me, over the past three weeks, the request and the challenge has been how to touch that quality [of stillness, that is our true nature], for ourselves and for others, now that we are all apart.

How to live in a world in a situation that is difficult and remain steady and grounded in the deepest way that we can, which is silence and stillness?

My deep gratitude for the many people taking care of those who are suffering. Boundless gratitude. And for all the people who are courageously keeping the basic functioning of our city going. Of course, the medical workers who take care of the sick, the people who drive the ambulances, the truckers who are delivering us food from the farmers, the people who are selling and delivering our food to us, the people who pick up the trash, the people who deliver the mail and the packages. And deep gratitude for whoever it is that is keeping all this technology going at this time. It’s a mystery to me how it even works but I know there are human beings working hard to keep us in contact. Deep gratitude to all of them.

Resisting reality is a mistake. Because reality will win. No matter what that reality is. It’s safer and better to face whatever is happening with as clear a mind as you can possibly muster. And it’s from there that we respond to the world.

This is an updated podcast version of the dharma talk offered by BZC’s root teacher Teah Strozer on March 21, 2020, which includes the Q&A portion of the talk.

Resisting reality is a mistake. Because reality will win. No matter what that reality is. It’s safer and better to face whatever is happening with as clear a mind as you can possibly muster. And it’s from there that we respond to the world.

It’s really good if you can live without time. Don’t think there is a tomorrow that is going to be better. That you are going to fix something tomorrow, that it will be nice tomorrow. There is no tomorrow.