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

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So, good morning. Good day.

And,

Buddhism, Buddhist meditation is often associated with relaxation.

With becoming calm.

And, maybe for good reason, because many people in the modern world are stressed.

And,

I would just propose that in the ancient world, in the time of the Buddha,

that the association with calm and relaxation was less prominent than the association.

With being courageous.

That the people who really set out to do this Buddhist practice in a dedicated way,

were often seen as going against the stream of, against the current of popular culture.

And, against the expectations of what was family and society, wanted of them.

And, also against the current of their own attachments and clingings and grids.

And, to be able to turn that around,

and to go against the current, to do what was maybe unpopular, to really stand up.

And,

and not give in to attachments of all kinds, to fears of all kinds.

This took courage.

And, so, the way that the word for effort in practice could be translated as courageous effort.

Some people, and I think when it was translated to Tibetan, it became a heroic effort.

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