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Ajahn Sucitto's most recent Dharma talks (Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center)
Ajahn Sucitto's most recent Dharma talks (Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center) episodes
- Ajahn Sucitto: Untangling the Heart through Equanimity(Cittaviveka) Place attention on themes that hold the mind and heart steady, using body to anchor the tangle of reactivity. Heart (citta) can then step back from phenomena and return to its own center that is knowing, equanimous, open. Investigation and handling of the somatic and emotional effects, rather than the topics, lead out of the tangle.45 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: Of Donkeys and Riptides(Cittaviveka) When citta is collected in itself, it can begin to review the aspects of its experience that overwhelm and bind it, aspects not sensed or felt before. Train attention to go lightly, slow down, and open awareness to these unknown places. Fortify the citta with the rich energy of goodwill and recollections that warm the heart.51 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: Opening out of Reactivity(Cittaviveka) We are encouraged to investigate the region of feeling, perception and reaction. By creating space before the reactivity, citta has the choice to go down the same path of agitation or settle back into itself. Develop citta’s capacity for this through seasoning the heart to be contented in itself.51 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: The Real World Begins in the Heart(Cittaviveka) When we step back from the sense fields, citta can become steadied on itself. Clear meaning can come from this place of rest and ease. Then we can steer through input of the sense sphere, discern the meanings, and notice the effects in the heart and body. This is practice.45 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: Guided Meditation – Sensitivity in Embodiment(Bodhi College) The ability to sense and feel, read how citta is affecting body and body is affecting it – this is initiation into the process. Use the language of touch rather than seeing. Our fundamental base to support this process is the wide-open body. It contains all of the kammic stuff we need to work through.59 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: Contact that Is a Release from Contact(Cittaviveka) Liberation by wisdom comes from a healthy citta having resources to experience the range of contact and its effects. The gentle fluidity of practices like breathing and walking help soothe the agitation and fixity of contact so we can be with the feeling rather than in it. Then it can move, release, empty, cease.44 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: Unbind and Protect the Heart(Cittaviveka) Citta’s receptive quality is both its vulnerability and strength. It has to be protected until it is strong enough to repel corrupting influences. Cultivate themes and meanings that unbind and strengthen the heart – Buddha, precepts, lovingkindness. Citta then has a place to withdraw to.43 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: Guided Meditation - The Inner Experience of Body(Cittaviveka) What is directly here? It’s not the anatomy of the body with its individual parts. Using body and breathing as a base, tune into the inner experience of body. There’s energy there – living, vital, sensitive. Keep turning towards the calm and bright places in the heart and body.54 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: Settling into the Buddha Domain(Cittaviveka) Retreat is an occasion for clearing away certain inputs and intentionally placing others. Buddha – upright, clear, deeply centered. Emphasize the receptive aspect, listen deeply, linger. Gently allow awareness to become enriched by Buddha qualities, pervading body, heart mind.39 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: Correcting the Foundations - Full Moon Lunar Observance(Cittaviveka) Citta is confused. It has taken the wrong baseline and lost its foundation in itself – its own clarity, purity, knowing. Direct experience is the way back. Touching into qualities that strengthen and uplift citta, feeling the effects, and listening. Citta is freed from false baselines and settles in itself.55 min
About Ajahn Sucitto's most recent Dharma talks (Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center)
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