What is the relationship between absolute reality-whatever that may be-and the relative world we inhabit? That question is at the heart of all religions. Mahayana Buddhism’s answer is called the two truths. Relative Truth Relative truth includes all the dualistic phenomena- ourselves, other beings, material objects, thoughts, emotions, concepts-that make up our lives in [...]
The Perfect Love We Seek, The Imperfect Love We Live
Love is what we long to receive and to give, yet our intimate relationships are conflicted and often painful. Psychologist John Welwood looks at the difference between absolute and relative love, and the wound within each of us that no other can heal. Again and again it defeats me— This reliance on others for bliss. —from a poem by the author While most of us have [...]
Two Truths—Indivisible
When we enter the path, we are working at the level of relative truth, and with practice we may gain insight into the absolute. But we don’t enter the final stage of practice, says Tsoknyi Rinpoche, until we realize these truths were never separate. The art and beauty of practicing dharma becomes more and more subtle and profound as we learn the dance of the relative and [...]
Something to Believe In
While belief can be just dogma or preconception, it can also be a guiding polestar that gives us a sense of direction. Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyl on the power of belief to move us out of a small, self-focused world and into a bigger way of being. My friend Maryanne and I were riding our horses together across the high open desert of the San Luis Valley when she surprised me [...]
It’s All Good
Everything is either wisdom or a distortion of wisdom, says Anne Carolyn Klein. Once we see this, we can relax and allow the path to dissolve the disturbed energies that give rise to our habitual reactions. The Sufi sage Rumi brings us a famous story-poem of adultery and wisdom. He describes a jealous wife who is so careful that, for seven years, her husband is never alone [...]
This Silence is Called Great Joy: A Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh
A teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh on the truth beyond our usual truths. There are two kinds of truth, conventional truth and absolute truth, but they are not opposites. They are part of a continuum. There is a classic Buddhist gatha: All formations are impermanent. They are subject to birth and death. But remove the notions of birth and death, and this silence is called [...]
