Ajahn Viradhammo discusses the place of intellectual understanding of the Buddha’s teachings. He points out that while this type of understanding is important, it is our own personal experience of these teachings that leads to true insight. He explores the landscape of repetition in practice as a cause for gaining in confidence over time.… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo speaks about the importance of finding a technique of meditation in which one has an intuitive and authentic personal interest. He explains how this is a skillful way to cultivate a meditation practice that is sustainable. He warns of the pitfalls in adopting a meditation technique based solely on another person’s recommendation or from an idea of wanting to achieve or attain something from one’s practice.… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo leads a guided meditation to allow us to fully welcome and cultivate good will towards those habits of mind that can sometimes be limiting. He uses mindfulness of the body and a calming breathing technique to help us stabilize the meditation.… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo describes how we can be with our experience of life in a pragmatic, worldly way, and also in a transcendent way which leads towards peace. He explains how we can transcend all of our experiences through practicing according to the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo recalls experiences from his early days of practice when he sought certain spiritual qualities and experienced aversion towards other qualities. He explains how all practice should ultimately lead in the same direction, towards present moment awareness and the abandonment of craving, and illustrates this with various listening techniques.… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo conducts a question and answer session with the lay retreat crew. He talks about the difference between equanimity and indifference, reflects on the time spent caring for his elderly mother, explores the nature and function of mindfulness, suggests skillful means of dealing with the hindrances, recommends lying down meditation and speaks on gratitude and other heart based practises.… Read the rest
Venerable Cunda reflects on a mind which experiences sankharas and goes into a proliferation of thinking, and a mind which experiences the same sankharas, yet experiences no proliferation. He explains how we can use the skillful technique of ‘No Thought’ to train the mind towards the abandonment of proliferation. He shows how this training can help us work with doubt, praise and blame.… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo expounds the teachings on generosity and morality, and explains how they are methods for reaching the final goal and not the goal itself. He stresses the importance of knowing unwholesome mind states in awareness. This knowing can then strengthen Right Mindfulness, instead of allowing these unwholesome states to become problems or obstacles.… Read the rest
Venerable Cunda explains how awareness is a sankhara that is conditioned by our efforts. He describes how practicing Right Effort and Right Mindfulness can fine tune our awareness, and uses the analogy of a spinning top to illustrate the different levels of awareness.… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo reflects on the beauty of those who are currently well, but taking care of those who become sick. He recounts the tale of our Thai friends’ support and generosity for a new Buddha Rupa, and how the Thai’s love of Dhamma helps Buddhism spread to the West, and Western Buddhist teachings integrate back to the East.… Read the rest
