[Downtown Dharma Sangha Listserv] Re: June 1 - The Four Reminders

Hello friends,

Wishing you all so well the Pride weekend. Thanks so much for joining me last week at Downtown Dharma! It was a real pleasure being together and learning about the Four Reminders. I've put three of the translations that we shared below. 

I also wanted to follow up with an invitation to my upcoming show, "Sheldon Feldman Sings the Songs They Told Me Not to Sing," premiering for only one performance next Sunday, June 15 from 4-5:30pm at Atlas Performing Arts Center. Connecting with last week's theme, it's a solo musical cabaret about a tone-deaf septuagenarian entreating the audience to love their most authentic life before it's too late. More info and tickets here: 

https://www.atlasarts.org/events/aal-presents-shawn-shafner/

Thanks so much everyone! Wishing you all the best, and looking forward to when we'll be together again. 

Shawn

Joyful to have Such a human birth, Difficult to find, Free and well-favored.	But death is real, Comes without warning. This body Will be a corpse.
Unalterable Are the laws of karma; Cause and effect Cannot be escaped.	Samsara Is an ocean of suffering, Unendurable, Unbearably intense.
Composed by the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche © 1974

1) The preciousness of human life and the particular good fortune of life in an environment in which we can hear the teachings of Buddha dharma.

2) The reality of death, that it comes suddenly and without warning.

3) The entrapment of karma—that whatever we do, whether virtuous or not, only further entraps us in the chain of cause and effect.

4) The intensity and inevitability of suffering for ourselves and for all sentient beings.

 Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

1. 

This free and favorable life, very difficult to obtain,

Brings the accomplishment of the purpose of human existence.

If the benefits are not achieved now,

How will such an opportunity arise later?

2. 

The three worlds are impermanent like the clouds of autumn.

The birth and death of beings are like a drama you are watching.

The life of beings passes like a flash of lightning in the sky.

It goes quickly, like water tumbling down a steep mountain.

3.

When their time comes, even sovereigns pass away,

And enjoyments, loved ones, and friends cannot follow after.

But wherever beings are, wherever they go,

Karma follows after them like a shadow.

4.

Through the power of craving, becoming, and ignorance,
Beings circle helplessly through the five realms
Of humans, gods, and the three lower existences.
It is like the spinning of a potter's wheel.

The three worlds blaze with the sufferings of old age and sickness.
There is no protection here from the fiercely blazing fires of death.
Beings who arise in this world are ever deluded.
They are like bees trapped in a vase, circling.

Könchok Chidü by Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye

--
Shawn Shafner

Body-positive movement classes, meditation, group facilitation and more! www.ShawnShafner.com

New book, Know Your 💩, available now via hardcover and audiobook: https://www.amazon.com/Know-Your-Shit-Telling-Bathroom/dp/1646432231
Published by Cider Mill Press, distributed by Harper Collins and Audible.

Founder: The People's Own Organic Power Project
www.thePOOPproject.org
https://youtu.be/nMATjaylbi8
https://youtu.be/72clhQyV6FY

On Sat, May 31, 2025 at 11:28 AM Shawn Shafner <shawnshafner@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Dharma friends, 

Wishing you so well this weekend. Whether we perceive the glass as half full, half empty, or through rose colored glasses, the way we see the world matters. Buddhism offers many practices and teachings to help us cultivate the "right view." Chief among them are The Four Reminders - the preciousness of human life, the truth of impermanence, karma (cause and effect), and samsara (the truth of suffering). Join us this Sunday as we connect with each other, enjoy a lightly guided meditation, and explore how these Four Reminders can help us see the world with greater clarity, sanity and even joy.

"See" you there :)

Shawn

• In-person: Sunday, 7 to 8:30pm @ Yoga District — 1910 14th Street NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, DC (please arrive 10 minutes early)
• Register in advance here; it's the last class listed for Sunday under the name, "FREE (14th St.) Insight Meditation @ 1910 14th St"
• Online via Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/466237117?pwd=cGxHaTJlTVhBdldVSk8weDZuSW5udz09

https://www.downtowndharmadc.org/

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Body-positive movement classes, meditation, group facilitation and more!  ShawnShafner.com

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