As we go through this path, a natural inclination arises to want to go toward sīla, toward harmlessness of being, because it feels right. It feels good. It allows us to be with the flow of how things are instead of fighting against it. The Buddha talks of virtue as “a blessing supreme,” and that it supports a mind to be unshakable, sorrowless, stainless, and secure. I imagine this bed of sīla, of virtue, in which we—our mind, our body—is allowed to rest and relax in a blessing supreme.
Kate Munding
Spirit Rock Residential Teacher
Kate Munding sits on the Spirit Rock Teacher Council and the guiding teacher for Assaya Sangha, a women's Buddhist meditation community. In addition to her Dharma teaching, Kate has been a mindfulness educator in schools since 2008. She is the co-founder and main teacher for Now Children.