Stokes Valley Monastery Retreat, New Zealand The poison arrow of ignorance spreads its toxins through passion, desire and ill will. By sitting still, applying mindfulness and surrendering to what is, the right view will illuminate our minds and will help us extract the arrow and heal the wound.

Learn how we can refine our mental skills of faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. Enhanced by right view and a deepened understanding of the Four Noble Truths, these spiritual powers vanquish hatred and fear, nurturing our readiness to forgive, and the blessed qualities of universal loving-kindness and compassion. A talk given during a 10-day retreat at Bodhinyanarama Monastery, Stokes Valley, New Zealand in 2002.

Using reason and logic, that is, acquired knowledge, we get caught in dualistic positions: right and wrong, good and bad, etc. We tend to establish a fixed view about things. In this talk Ajahn Sumedho is trying to get us to a place beyond such dualistic thinking, beyond taking sides. He says that intuitive awareness involves a one-pointedness (ekaggata) that includes, rather than excludes. It is not dualistic. Transcendence is a matter of “being” it, not thinking about it.

Everything arises and passes away, like the breath. How to not be frightened by this or experience "existential angst" from inevitable loss in connection is often what brings us into practice. Liberation is in the heart that is wide enough to hold joy as well as the greatest pain of loss. In managing inevitable loss, we become kinder, softer, gentler and much more careful. To liberate "fixed point of view," we stay awake and attentive, always open for new insights to our stories about ourselves and others. Views change, bodies change, relationships change, but what does not change is the capacity of the heart to respond with compassion and lovingkindness.

This talk discusses right view, the essential first step to establishing a meditation practice.

"the more we practice the less we know"

Structures of Dhamma practice aren’t commandments or statements of reality but to be used as focal points for us to observe. We notice where we hold on, where self-view arises, when we expect things to be fulfilling. All this causes suffering as long as we hold onto it, and liberation when we understand it as it is. Whatever we encounter then is not a heavy burden but an opportunity to cultivate that which will be for my welfare and the welfare of others.