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Ajahn Sucitto's most recent Dharma talks (Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley)
Ajahn Sucitto's most recent Dharma talks (Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley) episodes
- Ajahn Sucitto: Absolute Honesty - Grasping, Self, & Personhood(Cittaviveka) There is some kind of personhood that is enriched, that realizes. This is different from self, which is imagined, generated out of grasping. Come out of the story line of self, and into basic presence. A purification of this personhood – resilience, strength, clarity, heartfulness – comes about naturally as we meditate.56 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: Guided Meditation - Lifting The Heart(Cittaviveka) The process of samādhi is as important as anything else, wherever the process lands. Give priority to 3 fundamental roots: inclination towards kindness/well-being; protection/warding off what’s harmful; letting go of sense contact.43 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: The Precious Flaw(Cittaviveka) Meditation is not about getting any particular state or feeling. It’s about knowing what’s happening without getting bonded to it. Only by handling experience is there freedom. What we handle is our precious, necessary flaw – our suffering. Meet it and know it as Mara.43 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: The Person And The Undefinable(Cittaviveka) A reflection on the theme of being a person without a self. Only working with what can be defined – knowing what is skillful and unskillful, what causes suffering and what causes non-suffering. Far more than the benefit of calm, you’re then working with the roots of this personhood, learning how to handle aspects of the person without constructing a self.1 hr 1 min
- 57 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: Resonating With Suchness(Cittaviveka) The capacity of the resonant mind to listen, to be empathetic, is tremendously helpful. It’s what we set up in puja. The mundane is held in a blessed way. Things we didn’t know we needed to be felt are felt – it goes beyond words.27 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: Guided Meditation On Energetics - Deepening Ground(Cittaviveka) In meditation the ground has to be both clear and enjoyable. Make a joyful kind of effort. Refer to breathing to give focus; refer to the physical when the mind spins out. Track energy along the chakras – expand it, spread it around. May this be well.48 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: The Whole Person - integrating bodily, emotive, rational patterns(Cittaviveka) A teaching on the faculties of body, speech and mind and their patterning, saṇkhāra. In meditation, we work with the energy of these patternings. Clear and soothe body energies with breathing, and heart energies open. Upright presence of body allows us to remain attuned with the madness of the mind.57 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: Hindrances & Entering The Place Of Presence(Cittaviveka) There’s a glow and energizing effect to the hindrances that we’re attracted to. But if we lose presence in their pursuit, we don’t notice how they burn us. Samadhi is the overcoming of this, the coming into presence. The stages of samadhi cultivation are described, grounding the heart in the body so doesn’t rush out with feeling.1 hr 1 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: Guided Meditation - Opening To The Sense Of 'other'(Cittaviveka) The tendency is to conceive ourselves as being a separate entity; yet, we’re always in something. There is something around us without which we wouldn’t survive. Practice sensing into the ‘us-ness’, the sense of me and something else. Mindfulness of body and breathing support this practice.22 min
About Ajahn Sucitto's most recent Dharma talks (Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley)
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