Welcome to The Wisdom of Compassion, a podcast presented by White Conch Dharma Center. For today’s episode we will be featuring an excerpt from a teaching by Domo Geshe Rinpoche, the Spiritual Director of White Conch, titled “Maturing Spiritual Love”. In the section we’ll be listening to, Rinpoche is giving commentary on a traditional Buddhist prayer of refuge. The prayer as recited in the White Conch community is: In order to obtain perfect enlightenment, I vow from now on to go for refuge to the Guru and Three Precious Gems, and not abandon sentient beings. I will practice the six perfections. Over the years, Rinpoche has spoken in depth on various elements of this prayer: From exploring the phrase “perfect enlightenment”, to explaining the Three Precious Gems (which are the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha), and even addressing the true meaning of the word Guru and the wariness that surrounds it in the west. Each segment discussed by Rinpoche adds to a more comprehensive understanding of the prayer, and here we will be exploring the word abandon and its associated connotations. Enjoy! How to Subscribe to The Podcast To subscribe to The Wisdom of Compassion podcast you’ll need an app to listen to the show. * For iTunes users, simply open the iTunes store and search for “Wisdom of Compassion”. From there, all you need to do is click the “Subscribe” button. * For those using Stitcher Radio on your mobile device, just search for “Wisdom of Compassion” and subscribe from there. * If you have a “podcatcher” that you prefer, the feed that you’ll need to add is: http://www.white-conch.org/feed/podcast/ * You can always listen to episodes on the show notes page for each episode by using the audio player at the top of this page. Thanks for listening!