The realms from heaven to hell, human, animal and hungry ghosts are worthy of consideration and reflection. Dreams and experiences can touch these realms. Karma moves the dynamics of change to generate the realms. Liberation stands free from being stuck in a realm.

Dharma talk recorded in Germany, May 2009

We seem to be able to organise control over our circumstances such as cars and aeroplanes but examining our inner is a different matter. The self within manifests regularly as the controller affecting the way we view states of mind and outer. The controller is then unwise and unskilful.

Dharma talk recorded in Germany, May 2009

What is an important way to understand the 8 fold path? We need to examine every factor of the path so that know what areas we need to develop. The path contributes to a fulfilled life. Books can nourish or distract. We notice more through mindfulness and concentration (we call meditation). The beam of light above the altar of a Gothic cathedral makes the dust stand out in the light. The light of mindfulness reveals what shows. Concentration keeps us steady on the object.

Dharma talk recorded in India, January 2010.

Intention and action do not require desire to get a result. There is also the desirer, the desire and the desired. These three form together. What is our relationship to results? The field of time, past, present and future is in this process of desire. The divine is not in the field of pleasure and pain. The divine reveals love. A god has transcended the limits of being human. The divine makes something beautiful happen.

Dharma talk recorded in India, February 2010.

We look upon the wholesome influence of the past upon the present. It is good karma. Sometimes we feel the past oppresses our present. Truth examines causes and conditions and the effects. Seeing clearly exhausts unsatisfactory influences from the past. We are not interested in an abstract truth but a wise response to events.

Dharma talk recorded in India, February 2010.

We put aside our roles. The inner life grabs hold of an event, past, present or future to build a story. First hand inquiry contributes to insight into the fields of experience. If you grasp emptiness, it is like taking medication which does not dissolve in the stomach.

Dharma talk recorded in India, February 2010.

Dharma talk recorded in 2010.

A short comment on the French film Of Gods and Men. Where do we stand on an ethical dilemma. A human beings has the capacity to be a god. Krishna, the god, has a dialogue with Arjuna about war because the gods understand the humans and humans struggle with ethics and the sins of commission and omission.

Dharma talk recorded in India, February 2011.

Originally, Vipassana referred to monks who dedicated themselves to meditation for insight rather than rituals, ceremonies and forms. Vi-passana means to double the contact so that insight arrives. Some monks organised meditation for insight. Much meditation contributes to various experiences of calm, of spirituality but insights matter as well.

Dharma talk recorded in Germany, February 2011.

A commentary on the Buddha’s discourse on his Noble Search. An exploration of the experience of authentic freedom. Wisdom sees into conditionality, into dependent arising of events. Any longing is also dependent arising and often hard to see. It is difficult to see dependent arising as a liberation.

Dharma talk recorded in Germany, March 2011.