On the bodhisattva path we make big aspirations: :Mat I attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all beings”; “May I bring all beings to enlightenment”; “May I take the suffering of others onto myself so that they can experience a life free of suffering.” Sometimes we say these things without believing them. I remember one student actually trying to prove, with a calculator, the impossibility that all beings could contain enlightenment. “Can we, can’t we?” That’s not the point. The point is to try with all our might. And only when we try with all our might do we see how service affects us, and how it affects others . . . and then we understand. – Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel, The Power of an Open Question

Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel’s Tricycle Retreat is happening now on Tricycle.com! Join the Tricycle Community to enjoy the retreat and get her book, The Power of an Open Question, at 30% off.

Elizabeth will also be in New York City soon:

Sunday, September 26th Threshold 521 West 26th Street, 2nd floor Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel – Public Talk “Finding Our Way to True Practice” 2 – 5 pm (2-2:30 is meditation) $20

Followed by a reading from her new book, The Power of An Open Question at 6:30 PM. Book signing to follow. Free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Www.thepowerofanopenquestion.com

[Image: Ali A]

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