President’s Message

Greetings!

This month I would like to talk about my wife’s favorite book, which she reads this almost every morning. She has found that you can just open it up and read a section, and it will inspire you to think of the world in a different way. The book is written by Pema Chodron, a Buddhist nun. She also the resident teacher at Gampo Abby, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. It’s the first Tibetan monastery in North America established for Westerners.

This book offers standalone readings to help cultivate compassion and awareness of everyday life. They were compiled from her teachings at the abbey. She has written a number of other books including When Things Fall Apart, Heart Advise for Different Times, and The Places that Scare You.

One of my favorite sections in this is ‘Communicating from the Heart’. This is a quote taken from the book, “We have a strong tendency to distance ourselves from our experience because it hurts, but the dharma provides encouragement to move closer to the experience.” Although there are lots of words that could be used to explain compassionate action. I’d like to stress the word communication-in particular, communication from the heart.

There are 65 sections to this book, and each section is very to the point and easily understood. Each can be used in our daily life. This book has helped me focus on everyday life. I hope that this is helpful to you.

Thanks for all you do at NCUU,
Rob