Dear Common Ground Friends,
The Buddha’s teachings on wise view can be a gift when our lives feel challenging or overwhelming. Wise view offers an opportunity to know that even in challenging moments, we are not broken, not beyond repair, and not separate from the web of life that connects us all. Wise view reminds us that everything shifts, moves, and changes, including our pain, and that the challenge we're experiencing right now doesn't define the totality of who we are or what's possible. Wise view whispers to us that our struggles connect us to every human being who has ever lived. When we’re sensitive to unbeneficial habits of mind such as the tightness of control or the strength of condemnation, wise view can be the reminder that perhaps allowing this to be is possible. We can learn to feel what we’re feeling with interest and care because this doesn't reflect a personal flaw but is rather just a lawful force of nature. When we intentionally cultivate wise view in our lives, we can discover that the heart is far more spacious than our circumstances, and that the path to freedom is always available right here, right now, in this very moment. This is the Buddha's profound gift to us: that understanding the true nature of reality doesn't lead to despair but to an unshakeable confidence that freedom from suffering is possible, that our hearts can break open rather than break apart, and that even amid difficulty, we can touch something deeply trustworthy and true.
Warm Wishes,
Shelly Graf
Co-Guiding Teacher