The following talk was given at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California.

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So welcome to this second talk part two of core teachings and so to discuss further the second core teaching that of having no views.

What this means, maybe it's a strange expression so it needs some explanation, but it means

finding a way of living, being alive, even if it's just for a little while in meditation or a little

while walking in nature or a little while just in the evening and maybe looking out the window at the

stars or something of not depending on any religious belief or political beliefs, not depending on any point of view.

Certainly there are beliefs,

are points of view which are pragmatically useful.

And I say that carefully, so we don't automatically think beliefs, points of view are true in some absolute philosophical or universal way,

but rather they might be functionally true,

practically true in certain circumstances, but not in others. And religious people

often hold on to views, very strong beliefs, but what is ultimate and what is true,

what is right, and what is wrong.

And it's very hard to let go of that, to believe that anything else is valuable.

But in the simplicity of meditation,

we see clearly that certainly holding on to any belief system or actually operating with

actively with any belief system interferes with our capacity for peace, interferes with our capacity to tap into a deep natural

sense of well-being,

happiness, joy, peace, that is possible to experience

completely free of anything that we are believing.

So some people then feel it's a betrayal to our beliefs,

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