Raising Energy Overcoming Dullness
Ajahn Viradhammo. Tisarana Non-Residential Retreat 2013 (Tenth Talk). A quick example of how to use the breath to bring energy up in the practice.… Read the rest
How to Handle Thought Q & A
Ajahn Viradhammo. Tisarana Non-Residential Retreat 2013 (Eleventh Talk). We deal with thought by changing unskillful perceptions into skillful perceptions. We are trying to figure out how to balance the mind, asking ourselves: “what does the mind need right now?” It might be asubha contemplation, metta meditation, contemplation of space or some other meditation object.
Other questions asked: Is contemplation analytical and therefore not meditation? How does desirelessness relate to meditation?… Read the rest
I Teach Frustration
Ajahn Viradhammo. Tisarana Non-Residential Retreat 2013 (Fifth Talk). Ajahn Cha would say: “I teach frustration.” Ajahn Viradhammo explains how he learned in Thailand to frustrate his desires. By going against our natural habits of desire, comfort seeking, and engaging in pleasant distractions, we allow ourselves to see what arises, being aware and observing desire rather than pursuing it. Eventually we learn to go beyond desire and this is done by seeing discomfort/dissatisfaction as simply a condition of mind.… Read the rest
Brahmaviharas Guided Meditation
Ajahn Viradhammo. Tisarana Non-Residential Retreat 2013 (Sixth Talk). This guided meditation begins with a talk about this-that conditionality. By questioning whether the mind is in a wholesome or unwholesome state we can more easily understand cause and effect.… Read the rest
Ajahn Chah’s Teachings on Not-Self
Ajahn Viradhammo. Tisarana Non-Residential Retreat 2013 (Seventh Talk). Ajahn Viradhammo reads some of Ajahn Chah’s words on Dhamma and explains how Ajahn Chah taught his disciples about not-self.… Read the rest
Conventional Truth & Liberating Truth
Ajahn Viradhammo. Tisarana Non-Residential Retreat 2013 (First Talk). There is conventional truth which employs a sense of self: me, my life, and social responsibility. And there is liberating truth which looks at life as a stream of consciousness: mental, emotional, and physical phenomena as arising and ceasing within awareness, as simply manifestations of consciousness.… Read the rest
Restraint of Sensory Input Q & A
Ajahn Viradhammo. Tisarana Non-Residential Retreat 2013 (Second Talk). Questions are answered in regards to reading while on retreat as well as seeing the experiences we have as just experiences of the mind and not taking them personally.… Read the rest
Listening as a Meditation Object
Ajahn Viradhammo. Tisarana Non-Residential Retreat 2013 (Third Talk). We can use the metaphor of “listening to our experience” as a means of understanding how we are causing ourselves dukkha. This is especially the case with experiences of remembering the past or projecting into the future (neither becoming nor trying to get rid of).… Read the rest
Walking and Sitting Practice
Ajahn Viradhammo. Tisarana Non-Residential Retreat 2013 (Fourth Talk). A short talk on the practical aspects of sitting and walking meditation.… Read the rest
The Nuances of Bhava, Vibhava, and Kama Tanha
Ajahn Vīradhammo goes into more subtle explanations of the forces of becoming, non-becoming, and sensual desire.… Read the rest