How can we best respond to the tremendous uncertainty of these times?  What is the source of this great mass of suffering?  What are the forces in the world that drive intolerance, violence and injustice?  Are there forces that hold the promise of peace?  Do we really understand the nature of fear and hatred, envy and greed?  Do we know how to cultivate love and kindness, energy and wisdom?

The great discovery of the meditative journey is that all the forces for good and for harm playing out in the world are also right here in our own minds.  If we want to understand the world, we need to understand ourselves.  Can we really do this?

Mindfulness is path to enlightenment.  With practice, slowly, our minds steady and we begin to experience some space of inner calm and peace.  This environment of inner stillness makes possible a deeper investigation of our thoughts and emotions.  Wisdom sees the impermanent, ephemeral nature of experience and the basic unreliability of these changing phenomena.  And wisdom opens our minds to the experience of selflessness, the great liberating jewel of the Buddha’s enlightenment.  This understanding, in turn, engenders a compassionate engagement with the world.