Venerable Bom Hyon Sunim will be teaching on ‘Making Friends on the
Buddhist Path**’ in an online course on Tuesday 14th December 2021 at
7pm. It will be the last talk organised by the Library for 2021.

Here is a bit of information on what this talk will be about:

‘The Buddha extols the beauty and benefit of spiritual friendship.

When Ananda asked the Buddha whether having good friends is perhaps half
the path? The Buddha replied: “No, Ananda, having good friends isn’t half
of the Holy Life, it’s the whole of the Holy Life.”

There’s a special joy in practicing with good friends. Over time, you
appreciate the nobility and uniqueness of each friend, the twists and turns
of each life, and the gift each has given you. Spiritual friendship is less
about personal connection than it is about helping one another grow in
faith and goodness—to realize our true nature. We get to know one another
in the silent space of shared meditation and in the intimate sharing of the
dharma. In our everyday circumstances we may have little in common, but in
our spiritual friendships we find harmony, commonality, and deep mutual
appreciation in spite of our differences.

The Buddha said that spiritual friendship requires two elements: truth and
tenderness. Spiritual friends are honest with one another. They have
courage, they take risks, and they speak from the standpoint of
truthfulness, not expediency’.

If you are interested in attending, please be sure to register here so
we can send you the Zoom link before the session.