Rev. Danny Fisher

Today’s quote is from Robert A.F. Thurman, who is Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, co-founder and president ofTibet House U.S., prolific author and teacher, and translator. (For me, Thurman’s translation of theVimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra, The Holy Teaching of Vimalakīrti: A Mahāyāna Scripture, remains one of the richest and most rewarding English translations of, well, anything.) This is it – yet another one of Tricycle‘s Daily Dharma quotes this week:

“Practice” is not merely some form of meditation, some recitation of mantra, some belief system, or set of rituals. Practice includes the committed engagement in the politics of enlightenment, social actions aimed at perfecting and beautifying the “Buddhaverse,” which must be integrated with the internal actions of meditational transmutation. The noble Eightfold Path includes authentic speech, action, and livelihood along with the five other branches of intellectual and meditational development. People should be persuaded that things are workable, and enlightened leadership can make a difference.