The Negative Emotions: Attachment and Ignorance

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“The instantly arising thought is the cause of all suffering.” Our mind is just primed by habit to chase after any thought or emotion that arises. We accept this as natural. We are often led through life by our thoughts, rather than being able to decide what to think. Not knowing how to tame our mind is a big problem. This “not knowing” is called ignorance in Buddhist terminology, and only when we begin to gain insight into what it is that we don’t know can we gain stability and happiness. Our thoughts arise, and we chase after them, and thus we spend much of our lives in hope and fear. Overcoming this most basic form of not knowing is the key to all of Buddhist philosophy.

The Medicine and Compassion Project offers retreats that provide caregiving professionals a way to combat compassion fatigue and develop a more stable, vast, and effortless compassion. These retreats are taught by David R Shlim, MD and two Tibetan Buddhist teachers—Phakchok Rinpoche and Lama Oser.

Curriculum is based on the teachings of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and David R Shlim's book, Medicine and Compassion. Retreatants receive a combination of instruction in philosophy and the skills to develop a personal meditation practice. The retreats are limited to a small group of people to ensure each participant can have ample, one-on-one instruction. This video was captured during the Medicine and Compassion Retreat in Jackson Hole in the fall of 2018.

If you are interested in signing up for an upcoming Medicine and Compassion Retreat, please visit davidshlim.com/medicine-compassion/

Executive Producer: David R. Shlim, MD