(Aruna Ratanagiri Buddhist Monastery) The time to close retreat also means time to open boundaries. Retreat ends, but your awareness doesn’t. Always move forward in a way that keeps you alive and progressing.
(Aruna Ratanagiri Buddhist Monastery) Sensing space around; waterfall; standing like a tree; string puppet; separating earth and sky; standing in the ocean
(Aruna Ratanagiri Buddhist Monastery) Bodily feeling is an accurate read out of mental formations. It helps us detect kammic effects that arise and move us to action. Embodiment gives a way of discharging. The mind jumps over things that the body doesn’t.
(Aruna Ratanagiri Buddhist Monastery) One-pointedness, ekaggata, is a later development. The first aim is to get settled, to meet and dispel crankiness, negativity, craving. One-pointedness arrives after these are dispelled.
(Aruna Ratanagiri Buddhist Monastery) In embodiment exercises there are two qualities to emphasize: energy and the body. The basis of energy is this body. Embodiment exercises can help us cultivate the ability to redirect energy from the thinking mind by referring to the body.
(Aruna Ratanagiri Buddhist Monastery) First establish bodily presence. Notice how the leg lifts and moves. Keep the eyes soft. Experience the wave-like motion - it feels good! Allow what’s been difficult or closed to arise and walk it out.
(Aruna Ratanagiri Buddhist Monastery) Establish support through feet and legs. Process of letting go can seep upwards through the body. Breathing acts as stabilizing quality.
(Aruna Ratanagiri Buddhist Monastery) Ajahn Sucitto responds to this question by first reframing it – rather than thinking: here’s the real world, how can I fit my practice into that? Consider: here’s the real practice, what kind of world can I operate in from that place? The reality that’s available to us all, regardless of place or position as monastic or lay person, is refuge. And the real refuge is in your presence. Be a refuge unto yourself.
(Aruna Ratanagiri Buddhist Monastery) There are many things one can cultivate in meditation. There is craft, what can be learned. And there is art, what can’t be taught. Follow your nose, where’s your interest? Notice the difference between awareness and consciousness. Place an object in space, experience the object with dispassion.
(Aruna Ratanagiri Buddhist Monastery) The energy body is a particular fullness of being – this is citta. As it’s more completed, it becomes less obstructed. Take time to gather and center in the completed citta, even if it’s just for a few minutes. Meditation means to return time and time again.
9 min
About Ajahn Sucitto's most recent Dharma talks (Gaia House)
From the publisher's feed
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.
I normally incorporate Qi Gong instruction in my retreats. They are not suitable as audio files but you can watch the nine videos here: https://tinyurl.com/Sucitto-qigong