As a monk, I bring a strong commitment, along with the renunciate flavor, to the classic Buddhist teachings. I play with ideas, with humor and a current way of expressing the teachings, but I don't dilute them.
Sitting in a field of fifty to eighty people really starts my mind sparking. Since I don't prepare my talks ahead of time, I find myself listening to what I'm saying along with everyone else. This leaves a lot of room for the Dhamma to come up. Just having eighty people listening to me is enough to engage me, stimulate me, and create a nice flow of energy. The actual process of teaching evokes ideas that even I did not realize were being held somewhere in my mind.
Different teaching situations offer their own unique value. In retreat, you are able to build a cohesive and comprehensive body of the teachings. When people are not on retreat and come for one session, it opens a different window. They are more spontaneous and I'm given the chance to contact them in ways that are closer to their "daily-life mind." This brings up surprises and interesting opportunities for me to learn even more.
I'm continually struck by how important it is to establish a foundation of morality, commitment, and a sense of personal values for the Vipassana teachings to rest upon. Personal values have to be more than ideas. They have to actually work for us, to be genuinely felt in our lives. We can't bluff our way into insight. The investigative path is an intimate experience that empowers our individuality in a way that is not egocentric. Vipassana encourages transpersonal individuality rather than ego enhancement. It allow for a spacious authenticity to replace a defended personality.
Questions are précised and read into the file: 00:25 Q1 I’m wondering if you have thought about animal sankara formations and what they might be like? 04:27 Q2 Can the environment change your citta? 07:23 Q3 Can you talk more about calming the formations? It seems such a huge subject. 08:44 Q4 You say we have to turn towards our regrets and not suppress them. But these have to do with the past and we have to turn to them. I think I am confused. 25:07 Q5 Can you say more about existence and non-existence?
Questions are précised and read into the file: 00:38 Q1 Buddhist cosmology I find terribly overwhelming. If I just focus on what is helping me, will I be missing out on much? 02:07 Q2 I really value your teaching that it all comes back to clinging. 02:55 Q3 Yesterday you mentioned a shift that can be sensed before the tone of pleasant or unpleasant actually arises. Can you say anything more about this shift before the vedana quality actually appears? 04:23 Q4 This seems so interwoven. I guess it's a tangled skein. 12:17 Q5 You mentioned that it was helpful to point the citta towards kaya sankara rather than the vaci sankara. Is that what allows the development of equanimity? 16:52 Q6 I am confused. Are the heart and the citta two different things? 19:44 Q7 About the taints/ asava, is this a linear sequence? 28:15 Q8 Isn't part of the beauty of what you've done with samadhi as well is that to enter samadhi you've experienced non-fabrication of the 5 hindrances. 30:13 Q9 When I practice the jhanas I find I get to a certain point where I can't get further into calmness. Is that where I should start to investigate? 35:13 Q10 I have a resistance to being grounded. It seems I prefer the fizzy state. 42:37 Q11 In relating to signs and to being able to set signs aside, what role does beauty play in the dhamma? 44:58 Q12 Could it mean that it reduces the energy in unhelpful sankaras? Q13 There might be a time when I'm experiencing an upset and I would just put myself in front of a tree and the experience of viewing, considering the tree gives time for the capacity to identify with something wholesome and helpful.
Ajahn points out that the dependent origination teaching is not a linear sequence. It's more like a chaotic attractor with feedback loops, some returning more quickly than others.
Several participants relay their personal experiences with and understanding of delusion with responses and commentary by Ajahn. (The participants' voices are read into the file.)
Questions are précised and read into the file:14:10 Q1 Is there any significance to this figure of speech “there is a cause, it does not lack a cause” or is it just giving emphasis? 15:38 Q2 How do you withdraw emotional energy? 40:56 Q3 Regarding the role of being inspired, I was thinking about the Buddha’s own journey. His movement towards the path was the fourth messenger, the samana who moved him. If he hadn’t been open to that … 43:45 Q4 At some point we want to be skilful and pay attention to those problematic tendencies. So maybe being caught up in that negative script is like getting caught up in judgement. 44:33 Q5 When you can stand back and look at it without being sucked into the vortex. Is that it?
Questions are précised and read into the file: 00:48 Q1 You mentioned subtle body energy, heart and mind energy. Are these the same or different? What is the heart energy? 08:21 How do you heal the citta? 19:52 In dependent arising, is there a link where you can catch it more easily? 24:03 By bringing some acceptance to that craving or that aversion feeling, in my experience it doesn’t normally stop but reveals it more and allows it to be and I can respond to it.
