In beginning a long retreat, it’s helpful to reflect on the inspirations that underlie our spiritual life and how they shape our aspiration. Our inner life emerges through the simplicity of the retreat environment in contrast to an increasingly complex outside world. By trusting in silence and presence we develop the key skills we need to live wisely in both retreat and daily life.

Developing Sila in practice and on retreat.

An exploration of ardor, clean comprehension and mindfulness.

In the Buddha’s teachings, there are five areas of practice that lead to happiness: sense pleasures (for lay people), wholesome actions (or merit), concentration, insight and awakening. Each of these offers a more complete and reliable happiness than the one before it. The talk outlines the ways each of these areas contributes to our happiness.

Though we receive lots of instructions for our meditation practice on retreats, let’s face it – we spend a lot of time thinking. What do we think about? At the heart of these movements of the mind is answering the questions, “Am I OK?”, “Was I OK?”, and “Will I be OK?” Our obsession with these questions is the cause of a huge amount of restlessness. Restlessness is one of the major hindrances to calming the mind and deepening our meditation, and can be seen as both the cause and the effect of all the other hindrances. The Buddha also talked about this kind of thinking, and called it unwise attention that leads to all kinds of suffering. We need to look at the core issues that lead us to dwell on these questions if we are to create a more skilful relationship to our thoughts.

The Buddha said that we should be mindful in all four postures – sitting, walking, standing and lying down. We talk a lot about sitting meditation, some about walking and very little about the other two. This session is a guided meditation on standing meditation. Standing can be used as a practice in itself, or as a way to balance energy, especially sleepiness.

Wise understanding in the world.

There are four primal difficult emotions that come often in meditation and daily life: grief, anger, desire and fear. When we learn to relate skillfully to these emotions as they appear, there can be a great increase in the sense of freedom and ease in our life and practice.

Metta, or loving kindness can develop to a powerful force in out hearts and minds. We only need to start where we are, feeding non-hatred in our minds rather than putting our trust in the habits of fear and ill will.

The Buddha talked often of seven factors that prepare the mind for awakening. Headed by mindfulness, the factors are balanced between energizing and calming states. This talk discusses each of the factors, how they are developed, and how to balance them.

Upasika Kee talks about finding in meditation an “inward-staying unentangled knowing.” This talk describes what this means in terms of dependent arising and offers three approaches to meditation that specifically aim at this kind of relationship to sense experience.

Luang Pu Dun defines the second noble truth as the mind that goes out to satisfy its moods, and the result that comes from the mind going out to satisfy its moods is suffering, - the first Noble Truth is the result of this! This talk describes how the mind can get lost in thoughts and create suffering.

The Buddha's life provides insight into the nature of his search, and the framework he used to explain his findings - The Four Noble Truths.

The natural flow of a retreat - of life - is expansion and contraction. We suffer when we identify with any aspect as being mine or me.

The great question, our deepest personal concern, can empower our practice, and motivate investigation of reality. But doubt can undermine our commitment to practice if we do not recognize it.

Reflections on the power and value of loving-friendless practice, and its place on the road to awakening. Guided metta practice for all beings

Engaging with the world.

A brief talk on the 2nd sutta in the Majjhima Nikaya