You don’t have to look far in today’s world to find suffering, both large and small. Seemingly endless violent conflicts around the world. The ongoing extinction of numerous species. Epidemic rates of depression and anxiety. Broken relationships. Isolation. Sickness. Aging bodies.
How can we hold the suffering of others without drowning in their pain or losing our own sanity? Traditional Buddhist teachings developed an answer for this question many centuries ago: the bodhisattva path.
A bodhisattva is someone who has a longing in their heart to relieve the suffering of others. To do that, bodhisattvas look to their own suffering as a guide—learning how to let go and then sharing what they’ve discovered with others.
In these new teachings from the beloved teacher Pema Chödrön, she explores the key practices of the bodhisattva path known as the six paramitas—generosity, discipline, patience, joyful exertion, and meditation. Pema describes how to bring the sixth paramita, prajna, the “wisdom beyond wisdom,” to each of these practices to transform them into the means for letting go of our attachments and serving others.
This path takes courage, but the rewards far outweigh the costs—for us, for those we love, and for all those in our world. The immense challenges and heartbreak of today’s world are calling on each of us to find ways to serve—and Pema’s teachings on the bodhisattva path in this course provide us with a sane, supportive, and even joyful way to do just that, so we can be of benefit both to others and to ourselves.