An evening, focusing on our response to conflict in the world, began with Buddhasevaka leading the Karuna Bhavana (development of compassion).

Prasiddhi then suggested some approaches when we are affected by world events. Deepening our understanding of compassion as an active practice helps when we understand the limitations of empathy based solely on emotional identification with suffering or a purely cognitive response.

The Mahayana teaching of two paths, compassion and wisdom, helps if we characterise these as paths of engagement and withdrawal. We need to develop both to feel happy but the teaching points to the benefits of allowing ourselves periods of quiet, such as going on retreat.

A very direct teaching is to practice compassion as bringing metta to suffering. This can be challenging and we need to be kind to ourselves as we develop this ability.

Prasiddhi then talked about the origins of engaged buddhism and how that manifests in Triratna through organisations such as the Karuna trust and Earth Sangha. Cathy brought the first half to a close, rereading a Zen parable from 2 weeks ago about how we can just respond in small ways that make a difference.

After tea, we had a good discussion, mainly about when and how we identify as buddhists as we engage in the world. We rounded of the evening with a threefold puja, enriched with three readings from the Dharmapada about conflict.