One of the criticisms of Western Buddhism is that it’s a kind of ‘feel good’ philosophy. There is a tendency sometimes with retreats and meditation situation where you get a kind of precious attitude. You might think, ‘This silence is so precious.’ Then, if anyone comes into that silence, there’s a kind of annoyance, ‘You’re destroying my retreat.’ But, the practice is not about being precious, it’s about being free.… Read the rest
The abbot has tremendous influence just because of the nature of our hierarchy. Just his personality has a tremendous kind of influence. So, when an abbot changes, we can see how attached we can get to personalities. So, our minds start to compare, well, ‘This one doesn’t do it like that.’ But, a monastery and a Sangha is much bigger than a personality.… Read the rest
So, it’s been a nice time for me. It’s lovely to re-connect here and practice with all of you. We need to somehow wrap up as they say. Returning to the world–I wish you well. I hope your practice does deepen. The most important, I wish you the realization of Nibbana.… Read the rest
This morning I was thinking about the synonyms for this practice of awakening. You find it in the literature and different teachers talk about it in different ways. So, we’ve been using, ‘The mind knowing the mind is the path. The result of the mind knowing the mind is the cessation of suffering.’… Read the rest
In urban societies, it’s very hard for people to stop. Everyone seems to have so much to do. That kind of sustaining of a practice–that’s a challenge. If one really loves this whole way of developing one’s life, then if you don’t really honour it, you tend to lose self-respect.… Read the rest
You’re always working with skillful/unskillful, wholesome/unwholesome, and obviously trying to develop the skill, training, and craft of the wholesome factors.… Read the rest
I spoke earlier about the four Brahmaviharas. I think when we have a certain level of freedom, we’re available to whatever life brings us, and I think that availability is a kind of empathy. So, if I’m caught up in my own fears and desires, I certainly have to work on them. As you begin to let go of fear and process fear and purify fear, then the heart is obviously much more in touch.… Read the rest
Study is not the same as gathering information. So, when you study a text or some piece of the Dhamma, you usually have to go over it a lot. If you memorize Dhamma teachings, then they can be like an echo that comes up in consciousness. Then, that echo comes up as you live your life and it becomes a kind of Dharmic lens through which you look at life.… Read the rest
When the Buddha was asked who his Dhamma heir was, he didn’t appoint one. Instead, he left the Dhamma-Vinaya. The Dhamma is something that the laypeople hear a lot about. The Vinaya seems to be something that is the domain of the monastics because it’s the rule that we live by. As bhikkhus, we all adhere to, surrender to, and venerate that. No seniour bhikkhu can override the Vinaya.… Read the rest
One of the images that I’ve always liked is this idea of craft of the heart as opposed to say just some kind of experience that you get. In the writings about craft, there’s this common number that keeps coming up. If you want to develop a craft, it takes 10,000 hours. So, if you want to develop the craft of the heart, it can’t be a kind of weekend affair. It obviously has to be a lifetime affair.… Read the rest
