Summary: Episode Description: This second lecture of the program is entitled The Elephant's Footprint. In it, Stephen discusses how the word "care" can be thought of as a key ethical guiding principle in buddhist practice. He frames the discussion around a series of dialogues in the Samyutta Nikaya between the buddha and King Pasenadi of Kosala, the region of ancient India in which the buddha was born and in which he taught. King Pasenadi asks the buddha if there is "one thing that secures both kinds of good," the good we can bring to this present life and the good that reverberates beyond this life. The buddha responds that "care" is the one thing that secures both kinds of good. The buddha likens care to an "elephant's footprint," a footprint large enough to include within it all other footprints. Likewise, care can be thought of as an all-encompassing value with which to dwell in the world. Care is Stephen's translation of the term "appamada," a negative term which means something like not negligent, not indolent, or not drunk. It refers to the opposite of a sort of swerving, drunken befuddlement, a state of mind to which we are often "enslaved." In English, care refers both to being careful, of what we do and how we do things, and also to caring, of ourselves, our communities, and the world. So, what does it mean to live with care? Referring back to the first lecture (part 2a of this series), to live with care means to live from a "deathless" perspective, to live free of "aridity." It also crucially involves relating to others. Care is not an isolated practice. Rather, it is a public act. Care, for Stephen, must be the ground from which we engage with all of life. We must care for ourselves, for each other, and "extend our care to the whole world." For Series description and Teacher BIOs, please visit Part 1. To access the entire series, please click on the link below: A Culture of Awakening: All 18 Parts
