Death, illness, the frailty of old age, the loss of our livelihoods, the limitations of not being able to be with friends or loved ones, fear, panic, anger, prejudice, division. These aspects of our current everyday lives, needless to say, are true suffering. Right now, it sometimes seems as if this mass of sufferings is threatening to engulf us or overwhelm us. The world seems to be on fire all around us, and we may feel powerless as it burns. This true suffering, which has always been there, is so prominent to many of us right now that we may feel unable to distract ourselves as usual with the trance of materialism. When that refuge fails us, what can we do? This place where so many of us find ourselves these days is exactly the place where the Buddha’s teachings begin. The Buddha’s mission was precisely to show us how to move on from there, rather than remain stuck. Together, we will look at how each step of the path taught by the Buddha pertains to the current world situation, and how we can transform our suffering into fuel and traction on our path to finding true freedom from suffering for ourselves and for all sentient beings.
About the Speaker
Gustavo Cutz is an FPMT-certified teacher and has been an active volunteer with Shantideva Center since 2008. Gus has been the facilitator for Discovering Buddhism since 2012 and he explains complex material with simplicity, making the Buddha’s teachings practical and always accompanied with enthusiasm and a delightful sense of humor.
In addition, Gus facilitates the Debate Club and leads one day retreats. He has also taught Dharma topics at other spiritual centers. He is working on interpreting and summarizing Geshe Thubten Soepa’s teachings on several topics such as the Four Noble Truths, the eight worldly concerns, and the six perfections.
Gus previously worked as an editor at Wisdom Publications in Boston. Presently he works as a clinical psychologist and practices on Long Island.
