Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, explores the meaning of the Dhammapada -Twin Verses.

She discusses the importance of thought and self-mastery in shaping one's experience. We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world.

An impure, conditioned mind leads to suffering, while a pure, unconditioned mind leads to unshakable happiness. We have, over and over, a choice of conduct: the easy path of catering to personal ego desires, or the difficult path of conscious transformation.

The negative path is effortless and offers temporary satisfaction. The positive path requires a great deal of effort and an active choice to go against one's conditioned nature.

For instance those who showed up this morning for Lola’s talk. It would’ve been easier, she says, to sleep in and relax. Their  ...