In our first newsletter we included a picture of two of us walking in October sunshine along this wide, clear path in the Milntuim Woods. The path itself is clear. To the right and left are interesting digressions (in this case, there is a swamp on the left and a thicket on the right). Ahead, there is open countryside and the radiant light of the sun. It reminded me of the journey that each of us…

Meditation practice requires the bodily, conceptual, and heart-based intelligences to work together. As a standard, the advice is to simplify the activity of conceptual intelligence to that of placing a thoughtful listening onto an aspect of body or heart. And to then sense how that feels, or what response arises. Some details to consider are: With what attitude and energy do you place your attent…

On a number of occasions, the Buddha described the Path of Spiritual Practise as a spiritual progression or evolution. [See note from the book below] On one such occasion, in answer to the query about how to realize the cessation of I-making, he elaborated as follows: ‘A person hears the Dhamma taught by the Buddha or one of his disciples. They gain faith and, recognizing that it is not easy to pr…

If we were to measure our thoughts in terms of their quantity, we’d have to say that we’re really good at thinking. In terms of their quality, it’s another matter. Very rarely do we pay much attention to quality; it’s more a matter of being interested in whatever the mind churns up. Some people are better at directing their thoughts for particular purposes, and other people just follow wherever th…

Sitting ten hours of meditation for one day is not so difficult. Doing it for ten days, then another ten, and yet another ten back-to-back is more of a challenge. It requires determination, stamina, patience, surrender, and a deep commitment to put forth energy even when you’re exhausted. At some point illness will be a part of the equation, too, and we must practice with and through it. What does…

As we settle into the retreat and keep bringing our attention and intention inwards, using the breath as an anchor, remember that our meditation is something we have to engage with. Just the physical act of sitting in one posture is not necessarily going to make the mind peaceful. Ajahn Chah used to say that he’s seen chickens sit on their nest for a long time and doesn’t see them get either wise…

In his first discourse, the Buddha explained to the group of five monks that suffering was the act of clinging to any of the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, fabrication, or consciousness. As a result of that discourse, one member of the group gained his first glimpse of awakening. In the succeeding days, the Buddha gave instructions to the remaining members of the group until all fiv…

This is also a useful insight in terms of our inner practice: to recognize that there are times when we actually have a choice to not allow the mind to go in a certain direction. Once I was very angry and there was a strong sense of wanting to punish someone. Fortunately, I was also very clear about the harmfulness of acting on such a negative impulse, so I could just stop it, cut it. Not because…

A friend of the monastery warned me…that currently many people equate the pursuit of contentment with being irresponsible: since the world is in such a precarious state, contentment is the last thing we should be thinking about – everyone ought to be striving to find ways to fix this terrible mess. In that talk I spoke about awareness as a multidimensional reality, not a singular thing: just as th…

Faith is one of the five faculties (indriya) that the Buddha advised us to develop in order to free our hearts. These faculties are faith (saddhā), energy (viriya), mindfulness (sati), collectedness (samādhi) and wisdom (pañña). The list is presented throughout the Buddha’s discourses (suttas) in different ways. One way is progressive: you start out with faith. You need faith to get going, and thi…