Table of Contents for Gates to Buddhist Practice

Chapter: 1: Turning the Wheel

Chapter: 5: Daily Life as Spiritual Practice

Reviews of Gates to Buddhist Practice

Excerpt from Gates to Buddhist Practice

Question: How can I bring spirituality into my daily life without neglecting my responsibilities?

Response: Following the spiritual path doesn't mean neglecting things that need attention. You must continue to earn a living, maintain a home, and feed yourself and your family. But broaden your motivation. Understand that if you eat well and stay healthy, you may live longer, affording more time for practice so that you can increase your capacity to benefit others. Expand your commitment to act on behalf of all beings, not just your family and friends.

We needn't abandon worldly life, yet we must understand its illusory nature. Even as you earn money to support your family, don't be fooled by the seeming reality of the experience. Remember impermanence. Awareness of the play of change imparts a stability to the mind, an equanimity not disrupted by loss or tragedy. We don't have to give up working toward goals, and it's wonderful when we achieve them. But if we can't, we won't become upset, because we never believed they were that important to begin with.

When we die, we'll lose everything anyway. In the meantime, life is like a dance. Phenomena arise and subside; thoughts and emotions arise and subside. Trying neither to stop nor to engage them, we simply observe the illusory quality of the dance.

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