Ajahn Sucitto's most recent Dharma talks (Cittaviveka)

(Bandar Utama Buddhist Society) 00:23 Q1 How do we define a real state of meditation? Is it merely focus and concentration? Should we do samatha first or vipassana or both combined? 23:39 Q2 During walking meditation do we still observe breathing at the nostrils or radiating metta? 28:17 Q3 Is it okay to use the mantra Budho for walking meditation and during daily life activities? 29:32 Q4 I have committed some mistakes in the past, one which lost me a dear old friend and another one which causes me huge embarrassment every time I think about it. I feel a huge degree of sense...

(Bandar Utama Buddhist Society)

(Bandar Utama Buddhist Society)

(Nira Nara Retreat Centre) 00:07 Q1 There is body contemplation and contemplation of death. Can I contemplate things such as my work, my relationships with a fear of failing? How do I do it? 20:28 Q2 You mentioned during Qigong making a circle with the arms and concentrating within the ring. I found this very helpful to calm the mind. Is there something similar to help calm the mind during sitting or standing meditation? 29:40 Q3 You said the world begins and ends in the body. I'm rather used to hearing that the mind is the source of everything. Can you clarify this...

(Nira Nara Retreat Centre)

(Nira Nara Retreat Centre)

(Nira Nara Retreat Centre)

(Nira Nara Retreat Centre)

(Nira Nara Retreat Centre)

(Moulin de Chaves)

(Moulin de Chaves)

(Moulin de Chaves)

(Moulin de Chaves)

(Moulin de Chaves)

(Moulin de Chaves)

(Moulin de Chaves) Q1 In sitting meditation I have much less distraction but I feel a sense of torpor. Where does this come from and how can I deal with it? 07:10 Q2 I spend the majority of my life trying to ignore my difficult emotions. Since I began meditation I’ve tried to welcome them all but they take a lot of space. Will it be like this the rest of my life? [A similar one:] I find myself in a deep groove of negativity which is hard to shift. After a couple of decades of practice I am embarrassed by...

(Moulin de Chaves)

(Moulin de Chaves)

(Moulin de Chaves) Q1 I couldn't keep up with this morning's talk. Could you talk about the meaning of kalyana? Q2 04:20 What can we doing instead of getting rid of stuff that bothers us? 09:49 Q3 my inner tyrant has been very active. What is it and how can I deal with it? 14:32 Q4 What does "sitting with emotions" mean more concretely? It feels a bit abstract. 22:26 Q5 Is there something like embodied thinking? In other words, how to reflect upon my meditation when words are sankaras? 25:33 Q6 How to create a more permanent sense feeling of safety in the body? 29:28...

(Moulin de Chaves) Q1 How can I differentiate whether it's the ghost that's speaking or the thing that I should work harder on. I feel that if I work a little harder I can be a little better. How should I know it's time to stop ... and where to go? Q2 16:18 if done with love can accomplishment make the heart sing? Q3 17:50 How do I stop longing for emotional connection with a partner and of one of my children? I practice with letting go of the wanting but sometimes the longing arises and it's painful. Q4 25:38 Can you explain again...

(Moulin de Chaves)

(Moulin de Chaves)

(Moulin de Chaves)

(Cittaviveka) Within the world of praise and blame gain and loss, one’s balance grows. This plane of accomplishment neither binds to, nor rejects social and personal systems and customs, but uses them with kindness and integrity. As the heart sustains this, layers of one’s unconscious grasping are revealed and released.

(Cittaviveka) When handled contemplatively, the energy of goodwill feeds, repairs and strengthens the heart. It can govern our speech and convert our mental attitudes from those of the competitive world. It can also be taken in to clear the residues that these worldly habits have established; anxiety, performance drive and self-criticism.

(Cittaviveka) Through a steady inclining towards release from personal habits, the root clinging of 'me' is exposed. Training challenges this, and with dispassionate perseverance, there can be a surprising release from the 'me bag'.

(Cittaviveka) The citta/heart is affected or confronted by external and internal conditions. Apply wise attention to draw the energies of wholesome conditions into the heart – this is the foundation for samadhi. With a collected heart one can review and release from the constructs of time and space.

(Cittaviveka) Ingrained habits and obsessive emotions can be met and released through mindfulness established in the body. The practice of mindfulness of breathing purifies perception and volition to undo the sense of self based in time,

(Cittaviveka) The indriya work together – if one's faith is placed with wisdom and mindfulness sustains the focus on the wholesome, concentration occurs and one's energy is replenished. Effort should be wisely applied to break the pull of negative obsessions, The sense of time is to be uprooted, for example in walking meditation.

(Cittaviveka) The five indriya are factors that are accessible and take one's attention from the sensory world of circumstance to the citta -heart or mind. The initial indriya is faith, a quality that serves as a wellspring off support through the ups and downs of life.

(Amaravati Monastery)

(Amaravati Monastery) Q1 Could you speak further on how we can preserve our energies? 04:46 Q2 I've a volatile and troubled sibling and have tried to act with compassion. But the cost is over dependency and the constant drama. What can you advise? 17:33 Q3 Is there a way in meditation to deal with blind spots? 24:09 Q4 How would you suggest that we work with traumatic life events that have occurred in the past and of which one has hardly any recollection of? 27:28 Q5 How to deal with persistent feelings in different parts of the body? 33:24 Q6 I had a lot of...

(Amaravati Monastery)

(Amaravati Monastery)

(Amaravati Monastery) Q1 Do you emphasize one form sitting, standing, walking, reclining over the others when meditating? Q2 08:30 the mind feels cooked during longer sitting meditations. Some heavy energy in my head develops into a headache. What do you suggest? 10:17 Q3 This person says they feel like something disgusting and worthless. 17:17 Q4 You talked about ghosts and how we can create them. Even if we stay sensitive and open whom can we meet other or connect to than our perceptions? 23:11 Q5 How is it possible to face the resistances to this practice and to participating in retreats? 33:56 Q6 I have...

(Amaravati Monastery)

(Amaravati Monastery)

(Amaravati Monastery)

(Amaravati Monastery)

(Amaravati Monastery) Q1 Why is it hard for the citta to let go of a conditioned response? 12:47 Q2 Regarding meditation themes, what makes a suitable theme? 26:27 Q3 What kind of lifestyle and level of practice is needed for stream entry? What were you doing when things really opened up for you?

(Amaravati Monastery)

(Amaravati Monastery)

(Amaravati Monastery)

(Amaravati Monastery)

(Amaravati Monastery)

(Amaravati Monastery)

(Amaravati Monastery)

(Buddhist Society Summer School)

(Cittaviveka)

(Buddhist Society Summer School) 00:11 Q1 I have an urge for an inspirational, imaginational arising. It shows itself as a wish to be inspired. I find it hard to connect with Buddhist mythology, "seeing things as they are” seems not to be beneficial all the time. Some people in places seem to have a special effect on me and I can have so many positive feelings just by thinking about them. It feels like a gift. Is it real? Or constructed idea? 26:11 Q2 What is the relationship between the citta which is intrinsically luminous, nibbana, sensation and the anidassana viññāṇa describ...

(Buddhist Society Summer School) 00:09 Q1 Could you explain again what is meant by the phrase “post-truth world”? 02:15 Q2 - mic was far away, very difficult to hear; seems to be: What advice can you give regarding speech? 11:08 Q3 My dilemma is whether I watch the news or switch it off. It’s so overwhelming. But if I don’t watch it, what am I doing?

(Buddhist Society Summer School)

(London Insight Meditation)

(London Insight Meditation)

(Dhamma Stream Online Sessions)

(Dhamma Stream Online Sessions)

(Cittaviveka)

(Dhamma Stream Online Sessions)

(Cittaviveka)

(Cittaviveka)

(Cittaviveka)

(Cittaviveka)

(Cittaviveka)

(Cittaviveka)

(Cittaviveka)

(Cittaviveka)

(Dhamma Stream Online Sessions)

(Dhamma Stream Online Sessions)

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) The presentation of the satipatthana is of experience divided between ‘me’ and ‘the world’. Through practice, we see through this boundary and undertake the responsibility of participating in and co-generating a reality rooted in Dhamma.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge)

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Q1 - What would you suggest as priorities for lay practice, recollections to establish a steady orientation to Dhamma?; 13:08 Q2 - Mindfulness when talking and using computers etc.; 18:30 Q3 - Energy, qi, anapanasati and integration of energy; 26:24 Q4 – I feel lots of unpleasant skin sensations when sitting, What might these be? 28:46 Q5 You’ve referred to integrating energy as a new way to consider. What does this mean? 36:09 Q9 Why couldn’t it be that nibbana is like chasing the unicorn; 37:23 Q10 Can you speak about wisdom and samadhi; 40:33 Q11 Can you provide some guidan...

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Based on a heart that integrates around goodwill, key features of letting go arise. These are a successive process of disengagement, dispassion, cessation and release (or relinquishment). For example bitterness and guilt can be felt as they are and move on.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) The renunciate quality of retreat removes our psychological cushions. Therefore soothing, not intensity, is needed. Gaining health and psychological flex, we can disband the fantasies that haunt the heart.

(Cittaviveka)

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) 1 How is there embodiment in the formless realms? 2 Is unwavering mindfulness possible? 3 Cultivating the brahmavihāra with samādhi 4 How are happiness and unhappiness equal - and what about Nibbāna? 5 What is the ‘spinal sense? 6 How do we practice forgiveness?

(Cittaviveka) 00:18 Q1 It said that the awakened ones attained nibbana through mindfulness of the body. What about going through the formless realms? How do you maintain awareness of the body until nibbana? 13:02 Q2 I consider that for nibbana it requires mindfulness to be present every second, not just a while but continuously. This may be uncomfortable, perhaps we should bite the bullet and speak it out. On the other hand it's common when one has a strong practice for extended hours, for a few hours to think maybe I'm close? 25:35 Q3 Can you say more about the cultivation of the...

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Resonating with images and meanings of the Triple Gem generates positive waves that place one in the field of the True, the Good and the Beautiful – the best place for practice.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Resonating with images and meanings of the Triple Gem generates positive waves that place in the field of the True, the Good and the Beautiful - the best place for practice.

(Dhamma Stream Online Sessions) Ajahn responds to several questions around the themes: Is it necessary to have an attitude of sanctity or divinity when one is mindful in the sati sampajanna way? Is it possible to get anywhere in the practice without being ordained? How long should I sit and what particular process should I go through? Will I arrive at a certain recognizable state?

(Dhamma Stream Online Sessions)

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Investigate the causal process of how dhammas arise and subside, and learn how to be with that.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Investigate the casual process of how dhammas arise and subside, and learn how to be with that.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Bringing to mind and resonating with benevolent occasions in one's life to build up a solid resonant sign to sit with.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Bringing to mind and resonating with benevolent occasions in one’s life to build up a solid resonant sign to sit within – with 39 min silent meditation.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Citta/heart is like a lake with waves rippling through it. The unawakened response is to create walls to resist the unpleasant, and fences to retain the pleasant - and ‘me’ to hold it all. Awakening responses to the waves are the skills of samadhi and brahmavihara. These make the lake vast and able to allow waves to arise and subside. They are doors to the Deathless - the unconstructed that the citta can enter through non-holding.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Citta/heart is like a lake with waves rippling through it. The unawakened response is to create walls to resist the unpleasant, and fences to retain the pleasant - and 'me' to hold it all. Awakening responses to the waves are the skills of samadhi and brahmavihara. These make the lake vast and able to allow waves to arise and subside. They are door to the deathless - the unconstructed that the citta can enter through non-holding.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) The process of fruition through satipatthana entails resources, obstacles, skills, release and integration. Nibbana can be momentary whenever the consciousness of subject and object deconstructs.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) The process of fruition through satipaṭṭhāna entails resources, obstacles, skills, release and integration. Nibbana can be momentary whenever the consciousness of subject and object deconstructs.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Practice in the addictive world; lay stream enterers; anapanasati; attention and awareness; cultivate a good perspective on blockages.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Q1 00:52 When you're walking around and brushing your teeth what's your experience of the sense world and nibbana? I'd like to experience more beauty and sacredness in the sense world and cultivate a relationship with the transcendent, but it feels so out of reach; Q2 17:43 Recently I listened to a talk by Ajahn Tanissaro and he said he didn't know any practitioner in the West who was a stream enterer. I was disheartened. Can you say something about this? Q3 28:09 can you give some advice on cell phones and technology please? They drain my...

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge)

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge)

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge)

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Turn away from the measuring mind to track how experience is, and the arising and passing of stress. In this way, we engage with the ‘noble pleasure’ that leads to samadhi.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Turn away from the measuring mind to track how experience is, and the arising and passing of stress. In this way, we engage with the ‘noble pleasure’ that leads to samadhi.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Resonance is the sympathetic movement of energy; if one learns to resonate with how difficulties feel in the body, this sympathetic touch can facilitate release.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Touch sense establishes relationship and presence within the shared field. When this is safe, citta can unfold, and we re-form.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge) Touch sense establishes relationship and presence within the shared field.. when this is safe, citta can unfold, and we re-form.

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge)

(Insight Meditation Society - Forest Refuge)