“When you sit, the whole world is sitting… We really don’t have to do anything, just show up”.

Description: The invitation of Zen practice is to sit with the world, just as it is – keenly critical now, during challenging and distressing world events. At the same time, this practice is larger than any circumstances. Valerie encourages us to entrust ourself to this practice and to the silence which has the capacity to be thoroughly transformative. She encourages us to throw all we are into the practice, into the silence.

This practice is not about self improvement, it’s about letting self go… sometimes called the great relief. Valerie summarizes suffering and the release of suffering (the pali term dukha often translated as suffering more accurately could be called misalignment). She briefly describes the Buddha’s realization that the four noble truths and eight fold path are the way out of dukha. Concentration practice is the great solvent that over time melts away the crust around our hearts, our many assumptions, and the gaps that we concoct about our sense of separation. Our many beliefs don’t hold up because they are not real.

And, here’s a link to our YouTube video of this talk.

Also, check out our Upcoming Events:

Introduction to Koans, Thursday evening 5:30pm MT, April 21, with Henry Shukman

Reading Group, Mindfulness in Plain English, Saturday April 24, 10am-noon, led by Valerie

Original Love, Zone 2 Support and Trust, 6-Week Sunday series May 1 – June 5

Zazenkai: a Day of Zen, Saturday May 7,  6am-3:30pm

Featured Image (edited): Buddha hands holding flower, close up by anitasstudio, purchased from depositphotos, for use only on our website/social channels (this image is not permitted to be shared separately from this post).