At yesterday’s Kathina, Ajahn Viradhammo talks about how thinking conditions our experiences and how we have the ability to change our intentions towards skillful qualities within the mind. His themes revolve around intentionality, attention and kamma.
Following Venerable Khema’s Bhikkhu Ordination Luang Por Vīradhammo explains how this path of being a Buddhist monk and living within a Saṅgha provides an excellent condition for growth, maturity, learning new skills, and leading to the final goal of Nibbāna.… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo explores how we learn by engaging with and accepting the way reality is presenting itself to us. We thereby become more competent in whatever it is we are applying ourselves to.… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo uses the theme of color to explore how we are confused by the sense or color of our mental impressions. To free ourselves from this delusion, we learn how to use discernment to give ourselves an edge on the knowing quality of our experience.… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo explains how we can use discernment to awaken to the Noble Truth of suffering. Ajahn uses the pali word lakkhana (mark or characteristic) as a way to understand the role discernment plays in exploring discontent.… Read the rest
The Buddha is likened to the role of a car mechanic rather than being in the role of an abstract theoretician. A car mechanic explores the problem, realizes what is broken, fixes it, and then might teach someone what was done from that very real basis of experience. This is opposed to a very theoretical position that is not based on actual experience. Ajahn Viradhammo also focuses on the difference between discernment and criticism in this talk.… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo answers questions from the laity during an informal tea time session at Tisarana. Themes include letting go, ego development, navigating though sense distractions, developing paramis, generosity, self-thinking, present moment awareness, interest and curiosity, noticing cessation, dealing with anxiety, heart practice, a definition of practice: letting go of self view, being aware of only what we are conscious of, attainment and goal seeking, etc.… Read the rest
A talk by Luang Por Viradhammo: Our minds are stimulated by so many experiences that we are not given enough space to reflect on the nature of Dhamma. We are consistently being drawn outward by our tendency to move toward external experience and may find it difficult to maintain awareness due to this outgoing tendency. Themes also include: Buddhism as a religion, idolatry verses symbology, and how paying attention is one of the more valuable qualities of our practice.… Read the rest
Luang Por Viradhammo speaks about the need to harmonize with our experience of reality rather than fighting against this reality, wanting it to be different, believing that is it different, or trying to force it to be other than what it is. Whether good or bad, our experience of reality is what we have to work with and what we can choose to learn from.… Read the rest
Ajahn Viradhammo addresses how the Buddha’s teachings speak of two perceptions: the conventional and the transcendent. … Read the rest
