Gathering: November 15, 2006

Being the third Wednesday of our new schedule, we recited the Five Mindfulness Trainings. Here is an excerpt for your contemplation:

The Second Mindfulness Training:

Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I am committed to cultivating loving kindness and learning ways to work for the well-being of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I will practice generosity by sharing my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in real need. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others. I will respect the property of others, but I will prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other species on Earth.

During the discussion that followed, it was noted that the ideal of not stealing and not possessing anything that should belong to others, is very closely tied to the basic Buddhist teaching that craving is the root of suffering.