By: David Xi-Ken Astor, Sensei
We speak much about how our dispositions interpret how we see the world around us. It is the reality underscored in the Second Noble Truth. When we talk about our dispositions we often do so by focusing on the negative aspects on how these dispositions shape our unsatisfactoriness. But we must not forget the overwhelming positive values of our dispositions too. Dispositions are like bridges that help us connect with realities of our world that our senses often miss. Dispositions fill in the blanks in order for us to get a larger picture of how the world is. We do this because we can not know everything, but we have the potential for having to deal with unknowns in so many of the situations we encounter. So our dispositions function in the form of useful mental tools in order to help formulate our understanding of what is going on around us. Our consciousness depends upon them as markers, or guide posts, as we maneuver along our daily path. This is why it is so critical for us to refine our dispositions and subtract those that have little or negative value, as we build on the positive value of those that add to our awakening of how the Universe is.
This is another example of impermanence, and how our dispositions can and must change for us to experience our progress toward maximum human flourishing. The value of our dispositions points directly to how we are in the Universe. Each time we sit in meditation we are working to discover the treasure we call “Buddha nature.” The value of our dispositions depends on how successful this act of discovery will be.
Order of Engaged Buddhists 