Well, thank you so much for coming out in the rain.

I just have a bunch of announcements like to pass on and see if any of them are of interest to you.

Monday through Friday's Kathy does her daily pause,

morning meditation, online, I think I said, 8 to 830. And all the information is on the

website, Darmapunks with an ex-NYC, so stop by, really just a wonderful resource.

We are doing these in-person gatherings every first Tuesday of the month here at Grand Street healing.

It's a really lovely space and by the river if you want to stop by for some nice views after the class and a lot of

restaurants nearby so definitely make a night of it if you can.

All the information about my teaching counseling, it's on the website.

Everything I do is supported entirely by donations, and the use of this space is supported entirely by

donation so if it's possible and again if finances are a concern don't let it worry you, but nobody's going to check how much you give. It's all by donation. If you can give between 10 and 20, that's going to keep us in this space. But again, if that's too much, just give what you can.

And that's the way Buddha's practice works. So thank you for coming. That's the size of the sales pitch. I sort of just threw this talk together today. We'll see if it makes any sense.

When people come to Buddhist practice, I think one of the many dominant images we

hold in mind is the idea of Buddhism is this, or spiritual practice, is this or spiritual practice is this solitary endeavor where people sit probably in a cave in the Himalayas completely alone meditating in utter silence and that it's a largely solitary endeavor.

And if that were the case, it would drive each and every one of us crazy very quickly,

Buddhist centers in Southeast Asia. They're not quiet, isolated places where people sit in solemn silence.

These are actually very busy places where people connect,

keep up with their social lives, interact, do volunteerism, support various people in their community.

The Buddha's teachings, the bulk of his teachings were in the Winnia, which was telling people how to live together in harmony, free of any kind of social caste systems of his time.

The Buddha and his time was not a revolutionary because of the kind of meditation he taught.

He was a revolutionary figure because he insisted that all people of all casts in India, even if you know anything about the untouchables, these were people who were not allowed to have any contact

were shunned and abused.

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