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

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Okay. Okay, so we'll continue on with this interpersonal theme and today is something like honoring neurosis, the neurosis of the other honoring

duka suffering.

So sometimes I've had a thought,

just did a retreat on the four noble truths with a friend and colleague

Inez, Friedman, IRC.

And we did the four noble truths, but sometimes I've thought the first noble truth sort of contains the other three.

You know, the truth of suffering cause, you know the truth of suffering cause you know that there's a cessation of the cause

and there's a path but the first truth you know the truth of Dukka usually rendered as suffering. That is no joke, and we may say, yeah, I get, I know suffering. Everyone knows suffering. That's why we're here. It's why we're practicing.

And I've suffered and you've suffered and yeah we

know it. But do we comprehend it? The Buddha said comprehend T Tuka, do we realize it, realize it as an insight?

And this is not a process that is for the faint of heart and we actually really have to stop fighting

it at least momentarily to comprehend it.

And yet, most everything in us

rallies the troops to fight.

And so it's actually a major project

to open to one's suffering.

But sometimes the suffering of the other is even more evocative.

And it can be evocative in a way that opens us

to a kind of very deep compassion,

something in just seeing, you know, a loved one suffering.

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