Aruna Ratanagiri Dhamma Talks

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Dhammapada verse 290, wisdom, going for refuge, joy, confidence, beach, picnic, confidence, initial faith, impermanence, skilful means, tranquillity, deeply relaxed, dissolving habits of denial, DDB, denied dukkha backlog, upaya, armour, anger, sadness, disappointment, addiction to alcohol, wowed, Ajahn Chah, knowing so much, approximations, Abhidhamma, dosa mula citta, fire, patience, interest, knowing directly, discriminative intelligence, feeling investigation, denigrate, not-knowing, cancer, sila, sati, indriyasamvara, our spiritual toolkit, looking at the Buddha’s finger, Venerable Sariputta, intentional inhibition, exuberance, wanting to be sure, vibhava tanha, spacious open-hearted awareness, psychotherapist, empathy, meeting our embarrassing inadequacy, amazing.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) naive hope, succumb to feeling hopeless, cynicism, protection from chaos, buoyed up, ‘Reading The Natural Mind’, wanting and craving, hopefulness and hopelessness, sati-pañña, accuracy of awareness, lashings of cream, floods of maple syrup, repression, feeling without becoming, deconstructing the deluded sense of self, storehouse of wholesomeness and purification, gauging a monk’s competence, festival days, strength, stability, worldly winds, praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and pain, honour and insignificance, agility, DDB, denied dukkha backlog, compulsive controlling, default strategy for coping with denied pain, traverse the territory of denial, essay, caught off-guard, puffed up, off hand, lineal logical, tricky, deviousness, Master Hsuan Hua, Wat Bovorn, teacher’s job is to trick you, stories, Ajahn Chah, frustrating, spiritual games, Mara wants us to play games, the Buddha wants us to wake up.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) The Disease of Denied Dukkha, True Principles, mere beliefs, aspirations, lists, 3 fires, 3 poisons, 4 Noble Truths, 4 Brahma Viharas, 5 Hindrances, 5 Ways of Removing Distracting Thoughts, 6 sense bases, 6 sense objects, 7 Factors of Enlightenment, 8-Fold Path, 8 Indicators of That Which is Dhamma, 10 Vectors of Transformation, 10 Parami, 12 links of Dependent Origination, 84,000 dhamma doors, Ajahn Tiradhammo, varieties of approaches, obstructions, kilesa, agility, cutting through, seeing through, burning through, tapa, 3 poisons, greed, hatred, delusion, ice-cream, grades of obstruction, appointment, obeyed, fear of not being heard, DDB, denied dukkha backlog, purifying our hearts, conscious relationship, denial, indulgence, Mt Everest, ‘I’ve been there’, moha, purifying awareness, humility, spiritual companions.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) The Disease of Denied Dukkha, True Principles, mere beliefs, aspirations, lists, 3 fires, 3 poisons, 4 Noble Truths, 4 Brahma Viharas, 5 Hindrances, 5 Ways of Removing Distracting Thoughts, 6 sense bases, 6 sense objects, 7 Factors of Enlightenment, 8-Fold Path, 8 Indicators of That Which is Dhamma, 10 Vectors of Transformation, 10 Parami, 12 links of Dependent Origination, 84,000 dhamma doors, Ajahn Tiradhammo, varieties of approaches, obstructions, kilesa, agility, cutting through, seeing through, burning through, tapa, 3 poisons, greed, hatred, delusion, ice-cream, grades of obstruction, appointment, obeyed, fear of not being heard, DDB, denied dukkha backlog, purifying our hearts, conscious relationship, denial, indulgence, Mt Everest, ‘I’ve been there’, moha, purifying awareness, humility, spiritual companions.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) This talk was given at a memorial service for Daw Myint Su who died 1st April, 2023, in Edinburgh. Daw Myint Su had been a trustee at Harnham Buddhist Monastery for over thirty years.

Keywords: two types of blessings, common-or-garden variety, wholesomeness, understanding, meditation, derogatory comment, brainwashed by the cult of materialism, consciousness, Afghan hounds, screeching birds, True Principles, Ajahn Siripañño, a storehouse of wholesomeness, start-up, capitol, too much merit, getting lost, quality of awareness, silence and noise, space and specks of dust, sharing blessings.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Minor and major suffering, tricks, avoidance, dukkha plus plus, dreams, grief, frozen, tears, parent, emotions, parking, blissful, Four Noble Truths, true principles, upaya, ubai, skilful means, conundrums, miserable, grumpy, backlog, denied life, medicating, spiritual faculties, idealistic, bhava-tanha, vibhava-tanha, aggressive, deficit, forces for transformation, terrible-twos, projections, disillusionment, gentle approach, introspection, misperceive, too much, Ven. Myokyo-Ni, parami, mettabhavana, self-caring, threatening, default, whole-being awareness, recipe book, wound, mirror, modesty, weakness.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Minor and major suffering, tricks, avoidance, dukkha plus plus, dreams, grief, frozen, tears, parent, emotions, parking, blissful, Four Noble Truths, true principles, upaya, ubai, skilful means, conundrums, miserable, grumpy, backlog, denied life, medicating, spiritual faculties, idealistic, bhava-tanha, vibhava-tanha, aggressive, deficit, forces for transformation, terrible-twos, projections, disillusionment, gentle approach, introspection, misperceive, too much, Ven. Myokyo-Ni, parami, mettabhavana, self-caring, threatening, default, whole-being awareness, recipe book, wound, mirror, modesty, weakness.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Coming home, dying, truth, via negativa, stress, true happiness, already here, addiction, detox, eight-step programme, coolness, idealism, crash, muck, spiritual friends, not becoming spiritual, freedom.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Samanera Precepts, structures, inner activity, outer activity, festival, graven images, rituals, deluded sense of self, transforming, anatta, skills, integrity, foundation, lotus, swamp, Ananda, freedom from remorse, disciplined attention, samanas, currency, sati, conscious caring, metta, nutriment, backlog, malnourished orphan, Ajahn Jayanto, our own best friend, conscious composure, inhibit, indriyasamvara, dust, neurotic repression, compulsive exuberance, wise reflection, tangles, translation, Thailand, Theravada Buddhism, kutis, form and spirit, Ajahn Kevali, something beautiful, treasuring, this inheritance, realization, not speculative, Ajahn Chah, masochist, grateful, sacrifices, shaming, guilt-tripping, extraordinary good fortune.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Joining the monastic community, principles, pressure, deluded sense of self, obstructions, dross, approximations, untamed heart, lucid, spiritual toolkit, integrity, hiriottapa, remorse, disciplined attention, Ajahn Chah, crazy, diminished responsibility, conscious composure, indriyasamvara, jackfruit, compulsiveness, conscious caring, weird cult, wise reflection, tangles, deviousness, the four imponderables, The Potter’s Shed, tradition, transplanting saplings, protecting legacy, sacrifice, competence, community practice, sangha tea, Bani Shorter, ‘harmonious resonance of shared aspiration’.