“To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?”  Truer words were never written than these famous lines by William Shakespeare.

Through his genius command of the English language, Shakespeare identifies a truism found in contemplative practice, he talks about the mind, suffering… Isn’t that exactly what the Buddha himself alluded to when speaking about attaining enlightenment? Ending the suffering in the mind? Breaking Samsara?

Then, when Shakespeare proceeds to write: “Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?” Isn’t that what his Holiness the Dalai Lama refers to when he says that the most important meditation is critical thinking then followed by action?

Whether you are mindful of Shakespeare’s words or whether you adhere more to Eastern thought, isn’t our quest to be? Or not to be?

Let’s journey together in the last quarter of 2017 into the extraordinary topic of Being.

www.budhagirl.com