Next Monday, June 27th, the Dharma Discussion Group will begin reading Dancing With Life by Phillip Moffitt. This book is on the AZC “Recommended Readings” list. Phillip Moffitt is a on the Teachers Council of Spirit Rock Insight Meditation Center. He is an authorized Vipassana (Insight) Meditation teacher.

 

The book group just finished reading one of our school’s favorite texts, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. The intention for reading Dancing With Life is to better acquaint ourselves with the Buddha’s foundational teachings of The Four Noble Truths. Many of the topics in Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind  correspond to those in Dancing With Life. The emphasis in the new book is on everyday practice with The Four Noble Truths. Common themes include: mindfulness, sitting in meditation, training to be present with life as it is, working with everyday problems, delusion, impermanence, liberation, nirvana and beginner’s mind. The motivation for reading this is to deepen our Zen practice.

       

As our teachers have said, in general, people come to our way because of suffering. The truth of suffering has to be sat with in meditation in our tradition. Phillip Moffitt describes this same process by drawing on his experience and study in the Vipassana tradition. The Four Noble Truths, the Buddha’s first teaching after his enlightenment, is key for all the schools of Buddhism.

 

Dancing With Life offers a wonderful description of how the Buddha first taught how to practice with suffering in life. Of course, how we as practitioners study ourselves and relate to suffering is central to living wisely and compassionately. Come join us as we investigate this important teaching.

 

There will be digital copies of excerpts from the text available for those who don’t have a copy. However, we encourage people to get a copy of the book to support the author and for a better reading experience. The book is available in print, as an ebook and an audiobook. 

Every Monday we’ll meet at 7pm on Zoom. To get the Zoom link you can go either to the AZC Online Zendo page, the Dharma Discussion Group page or the monthly calendar. The schedule is: we sit for five minutes, then we take turns reading the book and discussing it until 8:15pm. Having a shared reading experience is a wonderful way to collectively explore the wisdom of the dharma!

 

This is a peer-led group, facilitated by AZC member Rich Graf.