This wonderful talk by Ratnaguna looks at the Pureland tradition of Shinran, comparing some of his approaches to the contemporary teacher John Kabat-Zinn, pioneer of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. The nature of ‘problems’ versus ‘difficulties’ is explored - notions of ‘acceptance’, ‘development’, and awareness itself are considered from new angles that can shed light on our experience of failure and suffering. A lovely, sympathetic and good-natured look at the foolishness of human beings which can, when held in the heart, begin to approach wisdom itself.
Talk given at the Western Buddhist Order Convention, 2005