This morning I spent time revisiting the Tenth Mindfulness Training of the Order of Interbeing. This training sometimes causes confusion for practitioners who are uncertain how to engage in public action and discourse. The text from the book Interbeing is quite clear. 

A spiritual community, however, should take a clear stand against oppression and injustice. This should be done with a clear voice, based on the principles of the Four Noble Truths. The truth concerning the unjust situation should be fully exposed (the First Noble Truth: suffering). The various causes of injustice should be enumerated (the Second Noble Truth: the causes of suffering). The purpose and desire for removing the injustice should be made obvious (the Third Noble Truth: the removal of suffering). The measures for removing the injustice should be proposed (the Fourth Noble Truth: the way to end suffering). 

We can do this and transcend partisan politics. I can think of numerous opportunities in today’s social and political environment. 

iPhone 7 Plus with Moment Lens

The partner, child, and parent are the teacher.

Clouds and mountains teach the student.

The seed of diligence supports marriage, family and sangha.

The fruit springs forth from love and understanding.

Twitter takes the title, image and then links, so this limits title length. Facebook takes the post content and makes it the FB post and then adds the packaged link with title, image and content. LinkedIn packages it together as a shared link and shows title, summary, and image. It’s probably best to always include an image, especially for Facebook. 

Updated: Facebook is inconsistent. If an image is included in the native post, then Facebook ignores the post title completely and only uses the post content, image, and then links to native post. 

Push to walled gardens, but publish in the open.

This is an important text for teachers who wish to cultivate mindfulness in the classroom. It is a uniquely Plum Village approach and provides concrete examples from hundreds of teachers from around the world. I am honored to have had a very small part in the manifestation of this book through offering feedback along the way as well as a couple of antidotes. 

The book is released in June 6, 2017 and you can preorder now from Parallax Press.