Aruna Ratanagiri Dhamma Talks

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Emphasising friendship, Kalyanamitta, Discourse on Great Auspiciousness, Mahamangala Sutta, the company we keep, developing and maintaining, Dhammapada 328, joyous company, emphasising solitude, Wat Pah Pong, unaddressed pain, side effects of affluence, distraction, social media, Dhammapada 160, be your own refuge, monastics, Venerable Anuruddha, milk and water, gym, characteristics, difficult feedback, trusting confidentiality, struggling, valuing friends, casual culture, 4 divine abidings, metta, karuna, mudita, upekkha, boundless heart, daring vulnerability, open-hearted state, aliveness, compassion, empathy, feel the sadness, banter, cynicism, closed down, equanimity, limitations, kamma, learning to listen.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) "How to properly understand the Buddha's teachings on not being better, equal or worse than others? I’m especially interested in how to deal with the feelings of being superior to those who do not search anything deeper in life, who merely pursue immediate gratification of casual desires.” Ajahn Chah, Abhidhamma, Thai expression, ditthi mana, perceptions, up to scratch, balanced sensitivity, afraid of fear, hating aversion, spiritual toolkit, integrity, embodied mindfulness, intentional composure (indriyasamvara), wise reflection, compassion, challenging, enquiry, daring, judging, fear, overwhelmed, anger, indulging, denying, in-breath, expanding, temporary happiness, wellness retreat, selfless happiness, pressure.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Virtues, transformation, helpful, spiritual muscle, energy management, habits, boundaries, vulnerable, nekkhamma parami, wilfulness, chocolate, forms, spirit, looking at your phone, addicted, focussing on the form, renunciation, sense of self, my way, squabbles, communities of selves, the Buddha, selflessness, sugar, pleasure, diabetes, obese, food manufacturers, fat and salt, indriya samvara, intentional inhibition, open-hearted awareness, ‘I want’, fully own, dopamine hit, backlog, dana, sila, nekkhamma, the burden of deluded personality, integrity, wholesome intention, Ven. Ananda, freedom from remorse, bowing, arrogant, materialists, making offerings to the sangha, reading Dhamma, pointing, more lightly.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Anxiety, counsellor, practitioner, emotions, fear, heart contraction, desire, greed, disciplined attention, intentional composure, schools, stub your toe, open hearted awareness, aligning meditation, counterforce of compassion, outshining, tears, empathy.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Father’s Day, appreciation, gratitude, spiritual fathers, Ajahn Sumedho, celebration of gratitude, celebration of generosity, faith, true principles, chaos, implicit order, materialism, Ajahn Chah, faith, disciplined attention, power tools, musical instrument, selfless wisdom, selfless compassion, shifts in perspective, increased sensitivity, apparently intolerable, intense badness, personal baggage, kamma, epigenetics, 5 spiritual faculties, blind belief, potential competences, patient endurance, driven by bhava tanha, backlog, burning, tapa, embodying, conscious connected breathing, conceptual intelligence, emotional intelligence, intuitive intelligence, acupuncture, headaches, intervention, heart contraction, fear, disappointment, relationship, dislike, wanting to look at your phone, apparently insurmountable obstructions, beginner, contentment.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Enthusiasm, aspiration, progress, chronically obstructed, Ajahn Chah, obstructed, moods, bad kamma, accumulated denied dukkha, crying, itchy wound, scratch, right understanding, screeching birds, nirodha-sacca, ekayana, disliking, open the chest, welcome heart energy, smelly socks, six senses, six sense objects, liking and disliking, acupuncturist, affluence, sadness, frustration, rightly aligned, great renunciation, synthetic security, approximations, the dukkha of disappointment, resistance, tolerable, lemons, lack of self-worth, overwhelming, grief, addicted to your smart phone, denied desire, fear, breathing, manageable, death, receive the hurt, don’t be afraid of the hurt, trust, heart-contraction, skilful non-resistance, heedless acquiescence.