No one likes to suffer, and most of us don’t deal with suffering in a healthy way. However, when you understand what suffering is, you can handle it more productively and gracefully.

According to Buddhist wisdom, suffering comes from a basic understanding and perception of ourselves as “I” — meaning the separate Self. When you react to suffering with wisdom — understanding that the Self is an illusion — you can begin to experience happiness, and share your happiness with others.

And, when you start to realize that your suffering is nothing compared to the suffering of the seven billion people on our planet — you’ll naturally start to perceive your own pain as insignificant.

During this opening session, you’ll

• Tackle your source of suffering — the Self
• Discover how the Self is an illusion… and, therefore suffering is an illusion
• Begin to learn how to approach your suffering so it doesn’t destroy you or make you bitter
• Be guided in a meditative contemplation to gain an experiential understanding of the teachings

Buddhist wisdom tells us that our shortcomings are the result of being off center. What throws us off center is the greed and fear that come with the illusion of the Self. And the depth of our fear equals the power of our greed. The more we own, the greater our stress.

Believing that you’re separate from everyone and everything else promotes a great deal of fear. You’re able to recenter yourself when you understand that you are the sister, brother, mother, and father to all sentient beings. When you understand that we are all One, that you are not separate from any other being, your fear diminishes.

Your innate supreme essence has no limitation. It takes a lot of contemplation to intellectually understand (and then experience) this concept, but when you do, you have nothing left to fear.

In this module, you’ll:

• See how you can detach from greed, fear, and stress — and recenter — by understanding that the Self is an illusion
• Realize that because the body is born, it will die… and that the mind is never born, so it will never die
• Begin to grasp that every being is immortal — mind, spirit, and essence
• Learn that we are not reborn… and that, like the sun, our cycle of rising and setting continues
• Be guided in a meditative contemplation to gain an experiential understanding of the teachings

If you want to find joy, you have to stop looking for it outside yourself. You can only find it within… by being happy with yourself, exactly where you are. How do you do this?

According to the Buddha, every living being is perfect. When you understand that your essence — that everyone’s essence — is perfect, you develop the capacity to find joy even in the unfortunate and painful aspects of your life.

The imperfections you perceive are not part of your essence… instead, they’re only your shortcomings, habits, misunderstandings, and misperceptions.

In this module, His Holiness will share with you:

• How to find joy from within, rather than looking for it outside yourself
• The importance of letting your principles, integrity, love, kindness, compassion, and wisdom permeate your life
• A prayer for when you’re suffering
• That suffering can become a vehicle for relating, in a personal way, to everyone who’s suffering
• A meditation process to gain an experiential understanding of the teachings

When we ask, “What’s the purpose of life?”, Buddhist wisdom tells us that it’s to have joy. The belief is that, to be truly joyous, you must be helpful and of benefit to others.

To have noble purpose means that your life has meaning beyond the fulfillment of your own needs and desires. Your knowledge, strength, and abilities are used to create meaning — not only for yourself, but for everyone.

Serving others so you can be rewarded or appreciated is to serve with a heavy heart. Assisting others with a light heart means you do it without expectation of anything in return. So when you serve, you don’t feel compromised or burdened.

In this session, you’ll discover:

• That you can find your life purpose in serving others with a light heart
• How you can have a meaningful, happy life by making the lives of all beings more meaningful and happy
• That doing for others is the greatest honor
• How you can save someone’s life with just one small gesture — a noble achievement, according to Buddhist thought
• A meditative contemplation to gain an experiential understanding of the teachings