Prajna means "sharp, illuminating and compassionate inquisitiveness." After a lifetime of fighting with the world it seems another approach is needed. The world as it is poses many contradictions. It holds heart-breaking pain and inequity - and awe-inspiring beauty. It has been too easy for me to despair at the first and overlook the second. Too easy to feel driven into angry battles that can not be won with anger, and to miss the chance to make a quiet difference because it feels like too little. Or to cringe away from painful truths and make them invisible rather than feel their sting.
Practice has shown me a way to see and act differently. And incited many questions: Is it possible to find compassion for all while still opposing destructive actions? Is it possible to change the world with love? What am I? Are we truly all one? What is compassionate action? Am I strong enough to really look at what is? What does it mean to be authentic? Can I sit with not-knowing?
For me practice has been less about the answers and more about the questions - and the sitting with not-knowing. When my mind is not in frantic reaction, I can often find a way opening to more skillful action.
I am grateful to live in a time when I have access to the words, the teachings, the practices of those who have explored these paths throughout the centuries.
I am also grateful to live in a time when I can easily share things that I discover and find useful - and open a dialog with others of like mind/heart. That is what this space is for. Prajna. Open heart, open mind. May all beings be at peace and free from fear.
