Ajahn Sucitto's most recent Dharma talks (Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley)

(Bandar Utama Buddhist Society) 00:23 Q1 How do we define a real state of meditation? Is it merely focus and concentration? Should we do samatha first or vipassana or both combined? 23:39 Q2 During walking meditation do we still observe breathing at the nostrils or radiating metta? 28:17 Q3 Is it okay to use the mantra Budho for walking meditation and during daily life activities? 29:32 Q4 I have committed some mistakes in the past, one which lost me a dear old friend and another one which causes me huge embarrassment every time I think about it. I feel a huge degree of sense of remorse and given the opportunity I would not do it again. What can I do to overcome this?... [and] During meditation my emotions are triggered. Should I come back to the breath or feel the emotion in the body? 37:22 Q5 How can I note intentions especially during meal time? There are so many of them! 40:27 Q6 What's the rationale behind not reading during a retreat? 42:29 Q7 When a person we love is doing harmful things, not correct practice despite your advice, they don't listen, how do I practice dhamma to avoid disappointment and sadness. 44:19 Q8 When it's in meditation my head naturally tilts upward. At this point the connection between the spine and the neck clicks. How to avoid it?

(Bandar Utama Buddhist Society)

(Bandar Utama Buddhist Society)

(Bandar Utama Buddhist Society)

(Nera Nara Retreat Centre) Closing advice - Return to the noble comfort

(Nera Nara Retreat Centre) 00:06 Q1 Several questions about meditation experience. Posture, disappearance of part of the body, whether it's worthwhile. 10:33 Q2 When I got up from reclining my sitting didn't feel very good. 12:07 Q3 Can you say something about addictive behaviours and desires? 14:30 Q4 Can you differentiate cultivation, practice and contemplation? 17:06 Q5 Could you expand on the analogy that Buddhist practice and the self was like a murmur of sparrows or shoal of fish swimming together. 29:51 Q6 Is citta also annica, dukkha, anatta? What is the origin of citta? 33:20 Q7 How do we know we're progressing? 34:23 Q8 Is Luangta Maha Bua's 'buddho' mantra which he apparently used to sit for a full 10 hours overnight, a little bit too forceful and willful? 37:27 Q9 This retreat has helped me to practice citta viveka. In my normal life it seems the world is coming at me. And sometimes I feel the heart will burst out of my chest which produces more anxiety. Do I have to quit my job!? 42:41 Q10 Somebody was giving a talk on secular Buddhism and I was to introduce them, but I don't really support the idea of secular Buddhism. How might I have handled this?

(Nera Nara Retreat Centre)

(Nera Nara Retreat Centre)

(Nera Nara Retreat Centre) 0:00 Q1 What is the purpose of meditation? 19:14 Q2 I've been practicing for a long time, but recently feel I've reached a plateau with no further progress. Can you advise? 29:53 Q3 [Am I on the right track] when I reach a certain level of samadhi and contemplate the truth, like impermanence? Will wisdom come by itself? 32:02 Q4 In order to practice the parami, do we dwell on each part of them one by one? I'm not aiming for buddhahood, so do I still have to do this parami stuff? 42:25 Q5 Does avijja mostly refer to the illusion of selfhood? 42:49 Q6 Can the viveka /stepping back from anger and aversion gradually chip away at them to complete elimination?

(Nera Nara Retreat Centre)