“If a bodhisattva realizes the ultimate selflessness of all beings, how do they generate the great love and compassion towards them?”  –Vimalakirti Sutra.

Misunderstanding the teachings and truth of emptiness can lead to apathy, despair or rationalized disinterest. Sincere practice and correct understanding allows us to be truly and skillfully engaged within the world of samsara, without becoming overwhelmed by the suffering we encounter.

The Thích Nhất Hạnh Program for Engaged Buddhism invites you to join us for our monthly Dharma Talk Series: Emptiness and Social Action. Over the course of nine months, a wide array of Buddhist teachers will take us into the essential teachings of the Buddhadharma and what it looks like to move into action to address the dissatisfaction, distress, and suffering that we meet in relationship with the earth, people, and systems today, in the United States, and around the world.

How does conceptual, inferential, and experiential knowledge into emptiness of an inherent self invite for a response to circumstances that are stressful, painful, and violent? Each evening will be unique, with a combination of a dharma talk, meditation, and a question and answer period exploring these essential and vital questions within Buddhism and our lives’ for this moment in time.

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi is the Head of the Mountains and Rivers Order, abbot and resident teacher of Zen Mountain Monastery, and abbot of the Zen Center of New York City. Shugen entered full-time residential training in 1986 after completing studies in mathematics and classical music. He received dharma transmission from John Daido Loori, Roshi in 1997. His teachings on Zen, social justice and environmental stewardship have appeared in various Buddhist journals, andThe Best Buddhist Writing 2009 (Shambhala Publications). His first book, O, Beautiful End, a collection of Zen memorial poems, was published in 2012.