This talk explores four sutras offered by the Buddha on how to awaken your heart and mind.   You’ll learn the importance of cultivating a lifelong aspiration to awaken, to actively cultivate spiritual friendships, to be open and kind and to take time away from the complexity of life to see ever more clearly into the nature of reality. This talk is inspired by an article in Tricycle Magazine, summer 2022, by Dale S. Wright entitled “Four Ideals to Guide Your Practice.”