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Returning to Our Own True Nature
Awakening is the true place of refuge within each person—the capacity for awareness and mindfulness present in every breath, every step, every sitting posture. When we know “breathing in, I know I am breathing in,” that is awakening manifesting, bringing peace and solidity. Twenty-four hours each day is a precious gift of life, inviting us to practice mindfulness in every moment in order to live deeply and happily.
Building the sangha is the path of taking refuge in one another, grounded in individual awakening. In the beginning, there were only five practitioners with the Buddha in the Deer Park, then it grew to sixty, then to 1,250, and spread throughout the world. Similarly, Jesus had twelve disciples, Martin Luther King Jr. founded The Beloved Community, Gandhi initiated Satyagraha—all are evidence of the power of a community of practice, sharing, and mutual support.
The third precept reminds us to preserve our integrity in order to protect the safety of body and mind in the modern context—from the “sexual revolution” with the pill in the 1960s to the current trend of small families. True love consists of four elements:
- maitri (loving-kindness, bringing happiness)
- karuna (compassion, transforming suffering)
- mudita (joy, bringing happiness)
-
upeksha (equanimity, seeing no separation between self and other).
Observing the precept of sexual responsibility is not merely prohibition, but requires insight and concrete practice to take care of our bodily and mental energies, so that we can cultivate true love in our daily life.