Meditation on the 5 frequent reflections guided by Bhante Akāliko, Dhamma talk by Bhante Sujato on AN 5.162, Getting Rid of Resentment

The tendency to keep running out into concepts eventually results in overload, insecurity, anxiety, collapse. We’re desperately looking for sanity. The steadiness and fulfillment we seek is already here, in the non-conceptual intelligence of body and heart. Rather than going out, return to where body, mind and heart energy come together. In this presence our real home appears.

A 5-day series in acknowledgement of one year of the pandemic. Each teaching includes a wisdom understanding and a heart quality.

Second of 5

A week of wisdom and heart qualities to mark one year of the pandemic

Second of a 3-session class on Renunciation for Laypeople. Letting go of mental habits and patterns is the heart of renunciation practice.

In meditation we practice viewing the stream of circumstance from the place of acknowledgement. Let the stream flow past without getting into the details. Centering practices of body, presence, ethics and heart strengthen the possibility to shift attention from the outflows to here.

When we’re stressed our hearts tighten and we try to control our life. This meditation guides us to relax the controlling and discover the open, tender awareness that allows life to be as it is.

While it’s natural to have fears of what’s ahead, when we learn to face the inevitability of change and loss without resistance, we discover true peace and freedom in the midst. In a very direct way, our awareness of impermanence awakens unconditional loving. These two talks explore the ways we habitually deny or resist reality, and the three interrelated pathways—refuge in the present moment, love and awareness—that liberate us. NOTE: The quoted prayer "And all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well" is from 14th century mystic, Julian of Norwich, in her work “Revelations of Divine Love.”

4th of 5 days commemorating a year of sheltering in place. Wisdom teachings are paired with heart qualities.