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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: 07 Guided Meditation – Sensing the Body in Layers(London Insight Meditation) In standing posture, begin with sensing the whole form – what’s around that and what’s in that. Body can be sensed in layers, starting with a basic sense of presence to the most primary level of “I am”, the sense of being a distinct object.41 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: 06 Staying in Touch with the “I” before the “Am”(London Insight Meditation) Many of us are susceptible to certain perceptual signals that communicate codes of obligation and pressure. Citta becomes secondary to these signals and we lose our sense of wholeness, balance and presence. The advice is to pause and check in with the subjective sense, the “I” before the “am”. As you come into wholeness its energies can change, and we can stop going back to our “I am” habits.53 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: 05 Guided Meditation – Ground as a Reference Point(London Insight Meditation) Beginning with standing position, take time to sense the space around that is non-intrusive, safe. Strengthening from the ground up, through the arch of the foot, and sending signals down, rooting. When you do feel centered you can maintain a center – that’s the most important thing.27 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: 04 Sense of Self(London Insight Meditation) The sense of orientation is a requirement, and it brings up the sense of self. It generates relationally, in response to objects, others, memories, etc. Generally that “me” sense is a set of mental impressions, not something fixed or solid. In relational context, the theme then is to maintain a sense of presence, establish primary reference, and use the body to get a feeling for that.20 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: 03 Standing Meditation – Whole Presence & Balance(London Insight Meditation) Standing posture is in between sitting and walking. Standing immediately asks for whole presence and balance. These are great reference points – losing these throws us into structures of identification. [Walking instructions begin 18:37] Sustain sense of embodied presence. Notice tendencies to engage with eyes, pull with head, lose parts of the body. The whole body walks as space opens around your body.24 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: 02 Guided Meditation – 3 Reference Points: Presence, Whole, Balance(London Insight Meditation) Guidance to sense into the 3 reference points, something the body knows but mind doesn’t. Amplify the sense of here-ness, lessen the sense of place and time. A here that’s always here, lessening engagement with what’s not always here. Best done in the experience of body.30 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: 01 Self Is an Addition to What’s Already Here(London Insight Meditation) The fundamental unit of existence is “me” and we try to fill in this existence, “myself”, the center that orients my actions. The mind creates entities, fixed objects. In meditation we can see they’re not fixed at all, just resonances.22 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: 18: Closing Talk – You Never Go Back, You Always Go Forward(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.5 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: 17: Qigong Exercises 2(Aruna Ratanagiri Buddhist Monastery) Sensing space around; waterfall; standing like a tree; string puppet; separating earth and sky; standing in the ocean33 min
- Ajahn Sucitto: 16: An Embodied Truth(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.22 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