The House of Inner Tranquillity Podcast

We are making the audio files from the House of Inner Tranquillity YouTube channel available. This is the first episode in a series concerning the practical application of the Buddha's teaching through the development of vipassana (Insight meditation). Covers the context for why we practise in the way that we do, where to place one's attention, dealing with habitual tendencies and calming the mind down.
 
Paul Harris is the Spiritual Director and principal teacher at the House of Inner Tranquillity Buddhist Insight Meditation Centre, based in the south-west of England.

YouTube video link: https://youtu.be/0vYNkUwsNmY

Most people get caught up in the appearance of things and attempt to get the world to conform to desires and expectations. Paul’s talk guides us through the alternative. Rather than entailing worldly action of any kind, it requires a head-on confrontation with our suffering. By fully accepting the way things really are, one can escape the wheel of samsara forever, through the elimination of ignorance and the realisation of the transcendental, which is described as “the ever-present knowledge that life is just a passing show.” 

Paul Harris is the Spiritual Head and principal meditation teacher at the House of Inner Tranquillity.                 

This talk was given in September 2019

Two types of truth, conventional and ultimate, are distinguished. Conventional truth is based in generalisation, e.g. 'All men have 2 legs'. Problems can arise from making such truths into laws which are expected always to be true. Ultimate truth is based in analysis of experience; investigation. Doing this, the meditator finds that you can only experience one thing at a time - the senses don't overlap. The mind synthesises reality from discrete elements. Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle is mentioned, shows how the observer and the observed are inseparably linked. Individual experience is the only measure of truth. 

Alan James founded the House of Inner Tranquillity, along with his wife Jacqui James in 1980. He continued to teach the way to enlightenment until his retirement in 2010.  

This talk was originally given in June 1982.

Masculine and feminine sides to personality; double messages and super-image; total relationship with oneself needed before possible with another. Recognition that it is the feelings, not the person, we are reacting to. Reduction of self-hatred through accepting mental states rather than repressing them.

Jacqui James was a Buddhist Insight meditation teacher and the co-founder of the House of Inner Tranquillity. Jacqui passed away in 1989, aged only 42.  
This talk was given in June 1982

Looking back at all the revolutions and transformations through which humans have gone, be they cultural, political or technological, we find there are fundamental aspects of life that have not been touched at all. Instead of trying to effect meaningful and lasting change in the external world, The Buddha's path leads to an internal revolution, in terms of how we see and understand life to be. Rather than trying to permanently fix life, it is a revolutionary wisdom that transcends the world of suffering altogether. 

Paul Harris is the Spiritual Head and principal meditation teacher at the House of Inner Tranquillity.                 

This talk was given in December 2011

A video of Tibetan monks playing a game demonstrates how to take joy in the simple things in life. Meditators need that same guileless and unpretentious approach to following a spiritual path. We know that there are difficult times to be faced that will need courage and determination, but we learn also that the key to success in this is not to take ourselves too seriously. Through continued commitment we eventually come to discover that our true nature is happy, loving, confident and wise. 

Paul Harris is the Spiritual Head and principal meditation teacher at the House of Inner Tranquillity.                 

This talk was given in October 2016

The blame culture has become all pervasive and has led to a very paranoid, cautious society. This talk discusses the need for meditators to understand the dynamics of blame. We need to know why we blame; how to respond to it when it comes our way and how, ultimately, to transcend it together. The meditator is encouraged to see being blamed and the painful feelings that arise with it as an opportunity to learn to surrender to the way life is. 

Paul Harris is the Spiritual Head and principal meditation teacher at the House of Inner Tranquillity.                 

This talk was given in April 2009

Is consciousness simply the outcome of chemical processes? Or does the mind condition the arising of physical matter, as Buddhism maintains? These are important questions because the views we hold about how life works influences our aspirations and behaviour. This talk looks at how exploration of our own mind and body through vipassana meditation shows us exactly how life comes into being moment by moment. Eventually, the meditator comes to understand life perfectly in a way that is beyond the views of both science and religion. 

Paul Harris is the Spiritual Head and principal meditation teacher at the House of Inner Tranquillity.                 

This talk was given in September 2011

Buddhism is criticised for being 'pessimistic', yet the Buddha often spoke of joy being in the world. Joy can be relatively coarse (arising from inefficient actions, e.g. hunting) or refined (arising from efficient actions, e.g. keeping the precepts). The joy which meditation can develop is better than these, since it's not based on attachment (to inefficiency or efficiency), but on acceptance of ourselves as we truly are, without comparisons.

Alan James founded the House of Inner Tranquillity, along with his wife Jacqui James in 1980. He continued to teach the way to enlightenment until his retirement in 2010.   
This talk was given in October 1985

Volition is that mental quality that wills experience into being. As such we use it all the time and it is present in every moment of consciousness. Volition is kamma and understanding how it works is therefore critical if we wish to live successfully. This talk looks at the active and passive phases of experience, how to balance strong and weak volition, how to use volition to set up mindfulness practice and looks at volition in ultimate terms.

Paul Harris is the Spiritual Head and principal meditation teacher at the House of Inner Tranquillity.                 

This talk was given in October 2012