Ajahn Sucitto's most recent Dharma talks (Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center)

(Emoyeni Retreat Centre) Attention is a natural faculty but developing the wisdom of what to focus on and how to focus, allows cultivation of meaning in the heart.

(Emoyeni Retreat Centre) We practice sensing the whole before we can find the centre. The Buddha taught that all forms of wisdom find their fruition in mindfulness of the body.

(Emoyeni Retreat Centre) In a retreat we become very fundamental, putting things aside.

(Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat) Here volition stops and we can examine what normally clogs the heart. We discard the endlines and deadlines. Observe conditionality without becoming.

(Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat) Q1 This person says that they are very sensitive and that things like traffic signs, noises, imperfections and the bustle of reality disturbs them. Do you have any advice? Q2 01:23 Could you comment on aging, sickness and death. Most of my friends and myself are in their late 70s or 80s and want to be more skilled in working with different stages and pain so as to be as prepared as possible for the dying phase.

(Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat) Examining direct experience we go deeply, beyond the constructions, finding in the heart that which is worthy of praise and emulation. This generates sangha, a living teaching.

(Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat) Notice the potency of unskillful language and how it can seem to squeeze us and create limitations in the mind.

(Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat) The framework of body, feeling, heart, and phenomena arising is helpful and can be continued throughout the day.

(Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat) Q1 Yesterday I had this thought that there is no shame in suffering. I'm wondering what is noble about the noble about the suffering in the first noble truth. Q2 06:17 Could you differentiate between awareness and consciousness? Q3 16:18 Please speak about bowing. Q4 20:39 Do you start and end your day with any reflections or recollections or practices? Q5 28:03 What is happening when right view and release become partially obscured again after right view has been attained? Why is it becoming obscured? Is cultivation of the empty field the main practice then and purification? Q6 33:32 It's taken several retreats to uncover this tremendous sense of guilt. When it arises it makes sense to avoid reconstructing the stories. the habit is to shut down the feeling. It appears as a pain in the chest. It shifts to holding back tears. Is this karma rather than the person?

(Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat) Q1 Is chi a teaching of the buddha? How does it affect dhamma practice? Q2 12:25 How do you know when the body is telling you something? Q3 20:25 When sitting if truly inspired thoughts arise, do we treat them the same as we would any other thoughts? Letting them go? Is there no value in storing them for later contemplation? Q4 24:31 Attention and intention, which comes first? How does restraint work in relation to these two for well-being? Q5 36:15 I've heard teachers translate upekkha in other words other ways other than equanimity. Equipoise or perspective, clear perspective. Do you have any insights you can share please? Q6 40:26 I investigate the causes of my suffering. Sometimes I get the impression that some of it may have been handed over through body memories by past generations. Sort of unfinished business. Can you comment on this? Q7 43:04 Can you comment on the importance of rituals and symbols, and one's ancestral language and healing tools. How can they be used to transform whatever I may be carrying from my ancestors? Q8 48:43 Can you speak more about the power of craving?