We are ever concerned about what we eat and the condition of the body. Yet care for the mind brings spiritual health. It's a question of balance. Mind is the forerunner of all things. And happiness and joy will surely follow when we rejoice in goodness. If we lose hold of the Dhamma, then how can our ship leave the harbour? Though the currents of life – of the world – are huge, we persevere. Trust in purity of heart, kindness, compassion and wise awareness everyday, in all that we do. A loving heart opens to clarity of vision, peace and blessings for ourselves and for all beings. Sati Saraniya Hermitage, Nov. 23, 2021

Compassion is the benevolent sister of harmlessness. Caring for ourselves, we care for each other – just as caring for each other, we care for ourselves. But how shall we live harmlessly in a world filled with anger, greed, and ignorance? May virtue prevail to protect us from their toxic currents. Fully aware and guided by wisdom, we shield the pure space of the mind with greater compassion, loving-kindness and peace. This, our inner disarmament, is the Buddha’s recipe for awakening. Sati Saraniya Hermitage, Nov 24, 2024

To understand suffering is to know the way out of suffering in our life. So, we trust the perfectly enlightened Buddha – most noble friend and guide to the heart's awakening. Turning away from greed, hatred, selfishness and conceit, cleanse the cobwebs of delusion and sow seeds of virtue, wisdom, love and compassion. With pure conscious awareness, just listen to the silence – present and awake in the joy and peace of liberating insight. This is the path. Sunday reflections at Sati Saraniya Hermitage. Nov 2025

"Do not hate those who wrong you. How else can you manifest the unborn power of compassion.”  Hatred even of our critics is not the resort of the wise. Day by day, know the blessings of peace, of forgiveness, kindness and pure awareness. Wisdom dispels our fears and sorrows in the clear light of awakening. Just like plants everywhere keep turning themselves towards the sun whenever it shines – the trees, flowers, vines, even weeds – they teach us. We always return to the unrelenting light. Sati Saranya Hermitage, Nov. 5, 2023

The world is forever fraught with the fires of greed, hatred and delusion causing much harm and suffering within and around us. Seeking refuge from the mind's vulnerabilities and restlessness, we secure our spiritual moorings. For here and now, as disciples of the present moment, we have full protection. We stand tall in virtue and wisdom. For we graze in the field of mindfulness and pure awareness. Whenever the ego drags us away, we return to pure presence, undaunted and aware – guarding the jewels of our heart. Reflections at Sati Saraniya Hermitage, Aug. 17, 2025

We are eager to know how to quiet the restless and anxious mind. Will peace ever come in the face of life's struggles? Let us listen to the voice of the inner heart and peer through the magnifying glass of present moment awareness. Softly practise this simple way of being present, balancing and resting on the pinnacle of every breath. Again and again, as we enter the timeless, let the world fall away into a beautiful vast spacious awareness. Here and now, tenderly know the joy and unsurpassable refuge of that universal silence within us. Ottawa Buddhist Society, Oct. 17, 2025

The Buddha left us a blessing key to wisdom and freedom. Can we use it for awakening? In the face of all the inevitable challenges of this human life: painful feelings, worries, fear, illness, betrayal, loss of the loved, aging – so many ways we suffer and are locked in by that suffering. The blessings are awareness and vital care of our actions, speech and thoughts regarding ourselves and each other. Living ethically, with kindness and humility, we wake up to universal truths, to what we really are. We see with new eyes: the shrine is within us and this life on planet Earth is pilgrimage itself. Sati Saraniya Hermitage breakfast reflections, Oct, 20, 2025

Though distinct, our body and mind share the ultimate characteristics of all conditioned phenomena, being impermanent, imperfect and impersonal.  Nor do they have any solid core or trace of any 'self'. This is key to freeing ourselves from identifying with body or mind as what we truly are. So we investigate further to understand, clear and protect the mind. Virtue is our moral shield from harmful, unskillful states. Aware inner listening nurtures stillness. We are on track to enter the gates to the Deathless.   Insight Meditation Society Retreat, May 6, 2013

 

Day by day, we bear witness to the flow of experience through which the world seems to tumble and thrash, as it did even a thousand years ago. In every age, doesn't life unfold through change, success, pain and struggle? How do we harm ourselves and each other and how can we repair and heal suffering with the timeless tonics of loving kindness, compassion and forgiveness? Such is the power of living harmlessly – the most ancient remedy of all. Sati Saraniya Hermitage Sunday talk, Oct 5, 2025

Can we stay true to our spiritual aspirations and fulfill  them without compromise? Keep remembering and applying the Buddha's instructions to protect virtue, trust the practice and commit to this noble search and rescue. We hold the reins to free ourselves from life's inevitable trials, so let us see the way to emerge from unfathomable darkness with our compass of wisdom. Here and now, awareness ripens the heart in joy, compassion, and blessing. Satipaññā Insight Meditation Toronto retreat, 2015