Transforming Felicity and Adversity into the Spiritual Path
D1S2 - Dispensing with Aversion to Adversity
Lama Alan · 76 minutes · recorded January 1, 2022
Adversity can only become the path if two things happen, and Lama Alan Wallace takes both: dropping the attitude of utter aversion to it, then finding a sense of well-being that holds even when things go badly. He distinguishes suffering itself, which is a symptom, from the mental afflictions that cause it, and repeats Shantideva's point that despondency helps neither what can be remedied nor what cannot. Day one ends with a guided practice of settling the mind in its natural state.
Anger and aversion Anxiety and fear Attachment and craving Buddhist psychology Depression and low mood Habits and change Illness and pain Settling the mind in its natural state Shantideva