00:10 Q1 Can you say something about handling concerns about people quarreling, people sick, family members? 08:40 Q2 I get a vibration in my body that progresses up through the body. It produces a peaceful and equanimous feeling. Why is this happening and what should I do next? 13:27 Q3 I get warmed when I engage in standing meditation. What's happening? 13:43 Q4 During one meditation when one attains full concentration and calmness, how does one feel in mind? What does one hear? What is the colour when one closes one's eyes? Do we still feel breathing? What's happening? 16:16 Q5 When I sit I get a sudden jolt. Is this sloth and torpor. 16:41 Q6 Why does thinking about revenge although unwholesome, feel good?

A meditation, reflection, and (just the) responses to questions on the theme of breathing and thinking; and what playing with bodily fabrication reveals and opens about experience and freedom.

Q1 When I meditate my mind is calm I can hear the breathing but at the same time my mind is also thinking about outstanding matters. I can't seem to prevent the pressure or momentum to think about myself or unfinished tasks. What should I do? 34:47 Q2 How do we develop equanimity?

00:00 Q1 After a few years of meditation and keeping precepts the mind starts to dwell in beautiful states. The mind still struggles taking mind states as me. Can you provide some guidance? 09:00 Q2 Is pitti only felt in the body. I don't often get the sensations in the body however I do get a light mind and a smile. 12:28 Q3 The thinking mind is the builder isn't it? The house builder talked about in the suttas? 24:29 Q4 Where is citta? 25:48 Q5 If we can be aware of the body, mind and citta, what is it that watches them? Is it awareness or consciousness that is apart from them? 36:51 Q6 In the Sanyutta Nikaya, the collected sayings 46:54 says the cultivation of the heart's release through metta is beauty. How do you understand this? 42:56 Q7 I've noticed some people seem to have absolutely no empathy or sense of shame or concern for consequences. But I understand the sense of shame etc called hiri and otappa are supposed to be innate in all of us. Why are they absent in some people? 45:11 Q8 What is it referred to in the homage to the sangha, the four pairs, the 8 kinds of noble beings?

Questions précised: 00:23 Q1 Can you give me some advice on self forgiveness? I can easily forgive others but not myself. 15:58 Q2 I don't usually experience deep samadhi but in the past few days there's much stillness in the sitting and the body feels heavy and grounded. Is this the right direction? 19:45 Q3 in order to develop sati we should come out of thoughts or thinking. Isn't that attempt just more thinking? 31:15 Q4 Generally speaking is there a difference in Buddhist approach to emotional psychological pain and physical pain? 40:44 Q5 Can you explain the difference between citta and mind?

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 Q7 My mother has dementia and refuses to acknowledge her situation. She recently fell and broke her hip. My father is struggling to maintain himself, trying to do the best he can. I'm deeply touched by this situation. How can I best integrate this into my practice? 40:20 Q8 Sometimes in QiGong practice I feel a little nauseous. Can you comment please?

Reading a short text by Franz Kafka ('Before the Law') – what can we learn from that gatekeeper? 3 ways to counter the feeding power of aversion or hostility to thoughts: gentle questioning, turning towards, making space. Stickiness: thinking & identity.

The difference between 'having a thought' and 'active thinking'. The trap of wanting to figure things out. How we feed harmful discursive patterns & how to stop; withdrawing our contribution, disidentifying.