Today Payton led our Sangha discussion on the topic of Desire and its role in our daily life and our practice.
This is a season of classic desire, and while the Buddhist path suggests that we try to find a way to be without desire, that instruction isn’t meant to be applied all the time. Rather, if we can find a way to quiet the strong pull of desire in our minds, this gives us the opportunity to recognize when desires arise and choose whether to follow them. And how do we know when to follow them?
Gil Fronsdal sums it up nicely:
Any circumstance you’re in, don’t make it worse; improve on it….
If you haven’t yet made it worse, don’t make it worse. If you’re making it worse, stop doing it. If you haven’t made it better yet, start doing it. If you’re making it better, keep doing it.
Gil Fronsdal
Payton played a talk by Gil, which is available here:
Burlington Buddhist Sangha 