Life-Saving Treasure

A reflection on the Upaddha Sutta (Half of the Holy Life) about the importance of good friends, companions, and comrades on the Eightfold Noble Path. Good friends encourage and share in developing seclusion of mind, dispassion towards the sense pleasures of the world, and, ultimately, the cessation of suffering that leads to a lasting freedom and peace. A talk given during an Ottawa Buddhist Society retreat at Maison Bruyere, Quebec in 2012.