The Buddha taught about ten perfections or beautiful qualities of mind that are needed to help us cross the flood of samsara, the cyles of existence. The first five of these are generosity, virtue, energy, wisdom and renunciation. When embodied, these qualities lead us out of the prison of impermanence. Overcoming ignorance and responding to life with greater joy, we live compassionate and harmless.

This is talk 3 of 14 talks given during SIMT retreat at Chapin Mill in August of 2019.

The Buddha answers a deva who wants to know how to cross the flood of sensuality, the flood of existence, and all its dangers. Walk the Middle Way, he taught, not stopping and not over-struggling with obstacles. Use the seven enlightenment practices to train our minds so that we can make this dangerous and urgent crossing. No matter how long it takes, never give up.

This is talk 2 of 14 talks given during SIMT retreat at Chapin Mill in August of 2019.

Laying down weaponry, giving up hostility, we can abandon negativity and establish sanctuary within us. We hear the inspirational tale of how Ajahn Gunhah transformed his kidnappers in northern Thailand. Through his embodiment of mettā they became his disciples, just as the Buddha had done with his adversaries 2600 years ago. Such is the power of pure mettā - good will or loving kindness. It is our true protection from harm. We too can rescue ourselves by developing it with great inner vigilance, wisdom, compassion and courage.

This is talk 1 of 14 talks given during SIMT retreat at Chapin Mill in August of 2019.

We may speak of or feel that we know about death but until we truly contemplate, approach and move into death, what do we know? This is a tale about looking into the eye of a tortoise shell butterfly while it lay dying on the shrine .  When its frail antennae reached up towards us at the sound of our voices, we felt at one even with this tiniest of creatures - who also wanted only to be loved. An OBS online talk, December 19, 2020.

As we follow the steps of the Eightfold Noble Path, our hatred, greed, and delusion abate. We may yet suffer, but we use our suffering to fathom the meaning of it, see its causes, and see the possibility for ending suffering. The four Noble Truths come alive within. Invariably, our suffering manifests in many forms. It may never ‘end’ but it ceases to be a problem as our fear or aversion to it die. Persevering in this work is the way to make peace with our suffering. A talk given at the the Vancouver School Board in Vancouver, B.C. in 2008.

What is renunciation? Patiently we learn how to let go of the thoughts and actions that enslave us to samsara. And we begin to understand what it takes to tame the ego and cultivate greater and greater compassion in its boundless quality. Through this magnificent process, we study the way to ascend the altar and sit with our teacher, the Buddha. A talk given at Birken Forest Monastery, Knutsford, B.C. in 2008.

Let us hone our expertise to witness the charade of gain and loss arising each moment. Seeing the eight worldly winds, impermanent, not giving in when the mind perches in 'self', purify wrong view, empty the basket, and begin here where we are, balanced, the Middle Way. A talk given during a Covid-19 online retreat with Satipaññā Insight Meditation Toronto (SIMT) August 2020.

We go forth into the quiet of the heart, distant from the world, to glimpse the Unconditioned. We are alone but we are as if with all beings. There is no 'one' who wakes up, there is just awakening. It is freeing and it's free - but it will cost us absolutely everything. We give up everything but there is nothing to give up. And we gain the understanding of the ancients.

The contemplative path of purifying the mind is the most important journey of all - inward. Just as the little quail that tricked a hawk, we no longer fall prey to the 'maras' of the world, safe in our proper ancestral domain of virtue. Therein, the heart of generosity is further refined into qualities of joy, selflessness, compassion and wisdom, thus benefiting ourselves and all beings.

Wherever we go the mind does not remain happy - unless we fully awaken. How can we end the restless tides and remain inwardly stable, content within ourselves like the well-hewn wheel that stood still when it stopped rolling and did not fall down? Purifying our bodily acts, speech, and mind in the Buddha's gradual training, we go beyond the eight worldly winds, coming to cessation, to the Deathless. An online retreat talk hosted by Satipaññā Insight Meditation Toronto (SIMT) in August 2020.