Essential Dharma for Busy People: Part 1

Teacher, Fred Eppsteiner, directs our study of the Dharma to two questions in our search for a happy and peaceful life.  First,   "What is essential, the simple essence, that is the root of all joy and sorrow?"  The Dharma teaches the Mind is the Source of deeds of body, speech and mind whether wholesome or unwholesome. Is this true? The second question is, "Am I present to reality as it is?" Can I distinguish between two worlds - the world of appearances, the source of distorted reality, shaped by stories, projections, and beliefs belonging to the narrative of the Self and the world of objective reality?  The happy, peaceful life is available when we have the ability to be in control of the Mind discriminating between the two worlds instead of acting as if they are the same.