A view, a Voice and our Vocation

Before the November Presidential Elections we have homework to do.

First, we must inform our view. This is research about the issues, the needs of our times, the candidates and their qualifications. This view is shaped by inquiry which is listening and reading.

We don't share our view, however, as it only tends to polarize the dialogue. We hold our view in a receptive manner to let it expand and contract. We hold the paradox and let our minds expand to grasp the range of facts, opinions, perceptions and dynamics of every-changing conditions that are before us today.

Bodhichitta Vows
This summary was part of homework I did in preparation for the Kalachakra Initiation held in Bloomington, Indiana
by H. H. the Dalai Lama in 1999.

The text I studied was: A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life by Santideva. Trans by Vesna A. Wallace and B. Alan Wallace. Snowlion: Ithica NY 1997 ISBN;1-55939-067-1

Teaching: a bodhichitta…a heart totally dedicated to others and to achieve enlightenment in order to benefit them fully: two levels of bodhichitta…

1. Aspiring…strong wish to overcome our shortcomings and realize our potentials to benefit everyone.

2 Involved.: Means engaging in the practices that bring about this goal and taking bodhisattva vows to restrain from actions detrimental to it.