Ajahn Viradhammo conducts a question and answer session with the lay retreat crew. He speaks about reflecting on karma as a skillful means to develop one’s practice, versus taking a position on the workings on karma which can lead to religious doctrine and is not really helpful. He points out the way people often get caught up in a reactivity with the mood of the mind, and in vibhava-tanha, instead of practicing rightly in accordance with the Third Foundation of Mindfulness. He reflects on the different types of beauty, including a sensual kind which leads to kama-tanha and an absorption into the sense experience, and a different type of beauty that can incline the mind towards an awareness and sense of stillness.… Read the rest

Ajahn Viradhammo reads the Vyagghapajja Sutta: Conditions of Welfare, from the Anguttara Nikaya (AN 8.54). He includes observations and reflections on how the Buddha’s advice from 25 centuries ago is relevant and of vital importance in how we lead our lives today.… Read the rest

Ajahn Viradhammo conducts a question and answer session with the lay retreat crew. He talks about family, monasticism and vocation as three paths by which one can practice self surrender and Right Livelihood, and how this can develop understanding. He discusses the distinction between experiencing an object and experiencing the awareness that knows this object, and points out how what we are really searching for can be found only in this awareness through the realization of the Third Noble Truth. He explores the idea of indulgence in an experience and how to let go of this indulgence through the teaching on Dependent Origination.… Read the rest

Venerable Cunda speaks on the perils of becoming stale in one’s practice and losing a sense of the beginner’s mind. He reflects on skillful ways of perceiving our everyday experiences which help us keep our practice fresh and interesting. Two ways we do this are through questioning our perceptions and witnessing the instability of all experience.… Read the rest

Venerable Cunda also answers a question regarding bare mindfulness versus a more involved investigation in one’s practice.… Read the rest

Ajahn Viradhammo compares the work of a scholar with that done by a contemplative. He explains how a scholar amasses teachings and knowledge, while a contemplative uses these teachings as bases for reflection. Using the example of the teaching on the Four Noble Truths, he shows how reflection can develop into a cherishing of all living beings.… Read the rest

Venerable Cunda speaks on the Five Hindrances, specifically restlessness and anxiety, and how these are tied in with regret and remorse. He points out the value of sila (morality) in overcoming these hindrances, and how right speech can be cultivated to lead us towards peace.… Read the rest

Ajahn Viradhammo gives a talk using the analogy of how we suffer when we get a flat tire and explores the skills needed to see beyond self-identified suffering due to our social conditions.… Read the rest

Ajahn Viradhammo expounds the Buddhist practices of sense restraint and being content with little, but stresses that while these are important practices, they are methods for reaching the final goal, and not the goal itself. He offers advice in accepting one’s own kamma as the cards that one has been dealt.… Read the rest

This is a past talk by Venerable Khemako offered at the Ottawa Buddhist Society. Venerable Khemako examines various sources of stress in our lives and compares the situation of the US Presidential Elections as a cause of Dukkha and how we react to it.… Read the rest