This morning Alan raised the emotional issue of the warrior returning home from the front. Going down memory lane he recalled the various ways heroes have been greeted upon their return. Some were welcomed and accommodated with gratitude; others were left to paddle for themselves. And then he got to the point: how about those of us taking time from their lives to face the most noblest (and bloodless) of all battles – the one with our own afflictive emotions. How would we be received when the retreat is over? With love and encouragement? Or indifference at best?
Then with a swift maneuver he wiped off the tears and quoted a Kadampa Geshe: “Now is not the time to subdue others’ minds, it’s the time to subdue our own” We then followed him onto the battlefield of mind.