As human beings, we each have a propensity for wanting to become a distinct somebody. This propensity shows itself almost constantly, both in formal practice and in our ordinary, day-to-day activities. It has to do with the hopeless search for worldly security and stability. Most people spend their whole lives on that search, but instead of finding security and stability, what they get is a sense…

The Buddha encouraged us to contemplate aging, sickness, and death every single day. It’s essential that we make an effort do that, because the mind’s nature is to forget about these contemplations. It inclines away from them and instead, inclines toward thoughts of eternal youth and health. For the most part, death doesn’t exist for us. So we have to make it conscious in our practice by realizing…

Learning how to meditate—how to develop the mind—is learning how to direct attention in a skillful way. Whatever we direct our attention toward becomes our reality. If we like, we can direct attention to all the chaos in the world or to the chaos of our own personal dramas. But we don’t have to do that. We can instead direct our minds to contemplate our experiences as merely form, feeling, percept…

After the meal today we will be taking formal leave of Ajahn Sucitto. Living as we do in an American Buddhist monastery, we’re in a distinct minority and rather isolated. So when visiting teachers like Ajahn Sucitto come here and talk about specific practice experiences they’ve had, it’s a precious opportunity for us. Having listened to them carefully, we can then reflect on our own experience, as…

One of the observations I have reflected on lately is that our life and spiritual practice are like a craft. Both for bhikkhus and lay people, it’s a bit like the guild system in the Middle Ages. In that system, a student would be apprenticed to a master, a goldsmith for example, or a glassblower, or a potter. The master’s duty was to train the apprentice in his craft. The apprentice’s duty was to…

The mind is intrinsically tranquil. Out of this tranquility, anxiety and confusion are born. If one sees and knows this confusion, then the mind is tranquil once more. Buddhism is a religion of the heart. Only this. One who practices to develop the heart is one who practices Buddhism. When you do something bad, there is nowhere you can go to hide. Even if others don’t see you, you must see yoursel…

Dear Venerable Monks, Friends, This evening I’d like to speak on other aspects of Dhamma, which are naturally supportive factors of Dhamma, and that when we mindfully reflect on them we can see how they are related very clearly to each other. There are eight such Dhammas. Number one is called “the root of all dhammas.” Buddha said that all dhammas have their root in desire, “chandamūlakā, āvuso…

This evening is our observance night, an opportunity to recollect the refuges and precepts and to take the time to reflect on the direction we want to guide our spiritual practice. In the Thai language the observance day is called the “Wan Phra,” which means “Holy Day” or “Monk Day” or maybe “Day Worthy of Veneration.” Ajahn Chah used to say, “It’s helpful having these special days. They were esta…

So today, we’ve come to use the new place, which is still under construction. But it’s still a convenient place. It still makes for a convenient place for gathering. Because without a suitable place, then we cannot all gather together like this. But then we’re adapting to a new place we have to adapt ourselves to new conditions, particularly the weather conditions, which are a bit cooler. But then…

Recently, I came across a sutta (MN 97, the Dhanañjani Sutta) that illustrates the themes of kalyānamitta (spiritual friendship) and making choices. The sutta begins with the Venerable Sāriputta walking with a group of monks in the hills south of Rājagaha. He had been away from the main community of monks for some time and a monk who had spent the Rains Retreat in Rājagaha at the Bamboo Grove…