Finding a community to practice with is important on several levels: we need like-minded people to inspire us, to support us, and to challenge us when we get stuck. The Buddha felt that community was so important that he included it in the traditional ritual of “taking refuge,” or committing to the path of freedom. Committing to that path, dedicating our life to going against the stream, consists of committing to awakening (Buddha), finding out the truth about reality (dharma), and participating in community (sangha).

This chapter in 'Against The Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries' follows up the application of the Four Noble Truths and the Buddhist Eight Fold Path; the development of wisdom through loving kindness, compassion, forgiveness leads us to the question, “How do we live this Eight Fold Path? How do we make this our life?”

This Buddhist Dharma Talk is based on 'Against The Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries'.

We’re making all of 'Against The Stream' available for free on our blog (one piece at a time). Link in Episode notes.