Zen: Buddhist sense of urgency, calm (audio)

Domyo Burke (Zen Studies Podcast, 1/17/19); Amber Larson, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Enlightenment: "Are we there yet?" (Sipress)

Podcast 86 – Samvega and pasada are two Buddhist emotions indispensable for practice.

"Sense of urgency" (samvega) and "calm" (pasada) keep our practice alive and on course. The first is a spiritual sense of urgency arising with regard to three things:

1. a sense of disillusionment and dispassion about life as it was usually lived,
2. our own complacency and complicity,
3. and a determination to find a more meaningful way to live.

Contrary to society at large, Buddhism goes against the stream as it encourages the cultivation of a sense of urgency -- as long as it is balanced with a serene confidence and calm that arises when we find a reliable way to address the sense of urgency to awaken and gain liberation from illusion. More + AUDIO