Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change. Paperback version.
Is it possible to live well when the very ground we stand on is shaky?
Yes, says everyone's favorite Buddhist nun, it's even possible to live
beautifully, compassionately, and happily on shaky ground—and the secret
is: the ground is always shaky. Pema shows how using a traditional
Buddhist practice called the Three Vows or Three Commitments, offering
us a way to relax into profound sanity in the midst of whatever
non-sanity is happening around us. Just making these simple aspirations
can change the way we look at the world and can provide us with a
lifetime of material for spiritual practice.
The Three
Commitments are three methods for embracing the chaotic, uncertain,
dynamic, challenging nature of our situation as a path to awakening. The
first of the commitments, traditionally called the Pratimoksha Vow, is
the foundation for personal liberation. This is a commitment to doing
our best to not cause harm with our actions or words or thoughts, a
commitment to being good to each other. It provides a structure within
which we learn to work with our thoughts and emotions, and to refrain
from speaking or acting out of confusion. The next step toward being
comfortable with groundlessness is a commitment to helping others,
traditionally called the Bodhisattva Vow. It is a commitment to dedicate
our lives to keeping our hearts and minds open, and nurturing our
compassion with the longing to ease the suffering of the world. The last
of the three commitments, traditionally known as the Samaya Vow, is a
resolve to embrace the world just as it is, without bias; a resolve to
see everything we encounter, good and bad, pleasant and painful, as a
manifestation of awakened energy. It is a commitment to see everything
and anything as a means by which we can awaken further.
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