The dharma can be seen as either the teachings of the Buddha or, more fully, the way it is. I love the phrase, “Right now, it’s like this” which embodies the idea that the dharma is front and center all the time. However, we have spent a lifetime protecting ourselves from reality especially if we think it will hurt us. We don’t want to relive past harms or we want to prevent the possibility of future pain. We live a defended life and unless we take to the time to look at our defenses, we will continue to be trapped by our habitual patterns of thinking and acting. As I have investigated and framed my practice around the idea of living with an undefended heart, it implies that the dharma is undefended. We become willing to turn toward whatever our experience is, without preference and with equanimity. This is quite a task and one that can take years (it certainly has in my case and I’m definitely not done yet). I hope you will join me in practicing undefended dharma as we move towards living with an undefended heart.
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